Related News

Venezuelan Opposition Attacks Cuban Health Workers

Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Cuban doctors working in Venezuela since 2003 epitomize Cuba-Venezuelan mutual solidarity. Joined there by 20,000 other Cuban health workers, 11,000 doctors are caring for patients and teaching medical students. Longstanding objections from Venezuela’s medical establishment are minor irritants in the face of recent violent assaults against Cuban health workers. They occur as part of anti-government protests that since early February have taken lives and damaged infrastructure.

Syria: New Barrel Bombs Hit Aleppo - Attacks Defy UN, Hit Medical Facilities

Tuesday, April 29, 2014
The Syrian government is indiscriminately striking civilians and civilian objects in Aleppo with unguided, high-explosive barrel bombs. The attacks continue despite a United Nations Security Council Resolution unanimously passed on February 22, 2014, demanding that all parties in Syria cease the indiscriminate use of barrel bombs and other weapons in populated areas. The UN will meet to discuss its second round of reporting on compliance with the resolution on April 30.

Stop Killing Aid Workers

Friday, April 25, 2014
One aid worker and two civilians killed in Afghanistan. Our thoughts and condolences go to their family, their colleagues and friends as well as to all health workers. Once again, ACBAR wants to reiterate its strong condemnation of any attack, intimidation, violence or threats against aid workers in Afghanistan.

UN Condemns Murder of Foreign Health Workers in Kabul

Saturday, April 26, 2014
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemns the killing of three civilians by a gunman at a private hospital in Kabul. UNAMA following a statement said, all three slain were foreigners who selflessly helped people of Afghanistan in need of medical assistance. The gunman is reported to be a security officer and the motive behind the attack is unknown and no organization has claimed responsibility.

Rebel Attack in Central African Republic Kills at Least 22

Sunday, April 27, 2014
At least 22 people, including 15 local chiefs and three members of staff of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, were killed in an attack on Nanga Boguila, a town about 280 miles north of the capital Bangui, officials said on Sunday. Some 2,000 French and over 5,000 African peacekeepers are struggling to halt waves of violence that have gripped the country over the last 18 months. Gilles Xavier Nguembassa, a former member of parliament for the area, said four people were killed as the assailants approached the town but most died when Seleka rebels went to an Doctors Without Borders-run health clinic in search of money.

Health Workers Murdered as Pakistan Vaccinates

Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Despite an army of police, vaccination workers in Pakistan are still being murdered in the midst of a public health initiative aimed at vaccinating 8.4 million children in one province against polio and several other diseases in just three months. The Health for All vaccination program, which runs Feb. 2 through April, is targets indigenous wild poliovirus, which is still endemic in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Of the three countries, only Pakistan is seeing an increase in cases. In January 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, “the world's largest reservoir of endemic poliovirus.”

Midwives Heed Call to Save Mothers

Wednesday, April 16, 2014
JUBA, South Sudan – Armed with a broad smile, Jennifer Ikokole ushers expectant mothers into a makeshift tent at the sprawling Tomping civilian protection camp in South Sudan’s capital, Juba. As the current crisis takes its toll on the population, the tent serves both as a maternity ward and a maternal and child health clinic. Ms. Ikokole, 49, started working as a midwife 24 years ago in her native country of Uganda. When she joined UNFPA’s midwifery programme in South Sudan two years ago, she knew her work was cut out for her.

Myanmar: Humanitarian Lifeline Cut Following Violence against Aid Agencies in Rakhine

Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Hundreds of thousands of people are finding it difficult to access basic services such as health care following the emergency relocation of up to 300 aid workers from Myanmar’s Rakhine State. More than 1,000 humanitarian staff have been forced to stop working following an outbreak of violence in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, on 26 and 27 March.

South Africa: Experts Recommend Ways of Making Health Facilities More Secure

Thursday, April 10, 2014
Pretoria/Geneva (ICRC) – Community acceptance, provision of impartial treatment and psychosocial support for medical staff working under stress can all play key roles in making health-care facilities more secure amid armed conflict or other emergencies. These are some of the recommendations that emerged from a workshop that took place in Pretoria, South Africa, this week as part of the “Health Care in Danger” project on the dangers facing health-care services.

World Health Day: Attacks on Patients and Health Personnel Continue

Friday, April 4, 2014
Geneva (ICRC) – On the occasion of World Health Day, 7 April, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is issuing a report on "Violent incidents affecting the delivery of health care," based on a large number of recorded cases, to raise awareness of attacks on people seeking or providing health care.

Pages