Famine and War in Somalia

As a physician who recently returned from war-torn Somalia, I want to commend you for your coverage of the tragic situation in Somalia (“Where a Gun Is a Meal Ticket,” Aug. 11). From May 5 to June 4, I volunteered with the Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps (IMC), the only U.S. medical organization working in Mogadishu during the crisis.

I am a 74-year-old retired surgeon who has worked in VA hospitals, and so have seen the aftermath of war. But at Digfer Hospital in Mogadishu, I witnessed firsthand the horrors that the fighting is wreaking on the Somali people, most of whom are children and women. Almost every patient there was suffering from an acute gunshot wound. Equally lamentable were the critical shortages of food and water, of fuel for electricity, of surgical instruments, medicines and supplies.

I also witnessed the courage and dedication of both the IMC and Somali staff at Digfer who are working together to save thousands of lives. They need any help that we can give to help the Somalis survive the senseless slaughter that is killing off their next generation.

LILLIAN RACHLIN MD, Los Angeles