The Safeguarding Health in Conflict coalition organized a group of 18 nongovernmental organizations from around the world to cosign a letter to World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan last week expressing alarm at the recent spate of attacks on health workers in Pakistan. The group praised the WHO’s dedication to documenting and reporting such attacks as specified by a resolution passed by the World Health Assembly in May 2012, and offered its support in implementing that resolution. The letter [accessible here] concluded by calling for the WHO and the global health community at large to redouble their efforts to protect health workers and services around the world.
Signatories included Accordia; AMREF; Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses; Doctors for Human Rights; Global Health through Education, Training and Service; International Association of Providers of AIDS Care; International Council of Nurses; International Health Protection Initiative; International Medical Corps; IntraHealth International; Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation; Management Sciences for Health; Medact; Merlin; Pathfinder International; Physicians for Human Rights; Save the Children; and World Medical Association.
The Safeguarding Health in Conflict coalition promotes respect for international humanitarian and human rights laws that relate to the safety and security of health facilities, workers, ambulances and patients during periods of armed conflict or civil violence.