British doctors in Kosovo appeal for NHS help

British doctors working for KFOR's peace keeping mission in Kosovo are urgently trying to secure funding for the treatment in Britain of four Albanian youngsters badly injured as a result of the war.

Based at 22 Field Hospital in Lipljan in the British sector, near Pristina, the doctors say that their attempts to arrange airlifts of the worst cases to the United Kingdom are being frustrated by bureaucratic delays. Roger Hackney, an orthopaedic surgeon working there since mid-June, told the BMJ: “We don't have the kit for specialist surgery, and most charities are not interested in secondary care as it's expensive and not very glamorous. The Germans have already … taken over 60 children back to Germany for treatment—we [Britain] haven't been able to take even one.”

One urgent case is “Lulu,” a 14 year old Albanian girl who stepped on a mine that blew off her right leg and blinded her in …