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SAMS Doctors Address Idlib Chemical Attacks to UN Security Council

Friday, April 17, 2015
Yesterday morning, the Syrian American Medical Society's medical coordinator in Idlib, Dr. Mohamed Tennari, and president, Dr. Zaher Sahloul, gave their first-hand and expert accounts of the recent Idlib chemical agent attacks in front of the UN Security Council at an Arria-formula meeting.

Attacks on Health Care in Syria Continue, Defying UN Resolutions

Friday, April 17, 2015
Deliberate attacks on hospitals and health care professionals in Syria persist despite three United Nations resolutions aimed at protecting civilians and new hopes of relief following recent international pledges of aid to Syrians in need, according to an online map of attacks on health Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) updated today.

Strengthening International Commitment to Protect Doctors, Health Workers, and Hospitals Overseas

Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Last December, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution affirming protection from violence for medical personnel, patients, and health facilities. The resolution reveals the extraordinary challenges of providing care in conflict zones. The Reporter talked with Widney Brown, director of programs at Physicians for Human Rights, about the problem of violence against health workers and the importance of committing to medical neutrality.

Eradicating Polio Requires Protecting Vaccinators

Monday, April 20, 2015
An increasingly alarming roadblock to eradicating polio is the rise in attacks on health care workers employed as vaccinators. In 2013-2014, 89 polio workers and their police escorts were killed in Pakistan and Nigeria. What’s most striking about this figure is that it exceeds the estimated number of actual deaths from polio; the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) estimated that between 15 and 30 people died from the disease in 2014.

Health Care in Danger Report: The Untold Suffering

Monday, April 20, 2015
“An airstrike destroys the paediatric and premature baby section of a hospital killing, among others, five babies and three mothers. A health-care centre occupied by security forces for days, preventing patients’ access to medical treatment. A clearly marked ambulance misused for an arrest operation. A doctor threatened not to treat wounded combatants of an armed group”. The data on these and other incidents were collected by the ICRC in 11 countries from January 2012 to December 2014 and published in a report, uncovering the untold suffering that violence against health care is causing to thousands.

Healthcare and Conflict

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
In the last 4 years of conflict in Syria, there has been an estimated 610 deaths of healthcare professionals and 233 deliberate attacks on healthcare facilities. Despite being explicitly prohibited by international law, healthcare facilities are one of the first targets in conflict situations. Junko Takata and Claire Peet of Polygeia highlight the longterm effects of violence against health workers during conflict, and ways Polygeia and other organizations and individuals can get involved in protecting health workers.

World Health Worker Week 2015: A conversation with a Somali Health Worker in Kismayo, Somalia

Thursday, April 9, 2015
Kasim Sirad Gedi is a Somali health worker who lives in Kismayo, Somalia. He works with the internally displaced populations, returning refugees and other vulnerable populations in Kismayo town focusing on maternal and child health services. I talked with Sirad in the week leading up to World Health Worker Week 2015 to get his perspective on the state of health in Kismayo and in Somalia in general.

Under the Gun: Practicing Medicine in Syria

Tuesday, March 10, 2015
It hurts me that my country needs doctors and I left. I was completing my medical residency at a public hospital when anti-government protests first broke out in Syria. By the end of 2011, government security forces were bringing detained members of the opposition to my hospital for treatment. Members of the security forces would insult and physically attack the medical staff, while also causing chaos by shooting their weapons into the air.

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