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The Emerging Syrian Health Crisis

Monday, February 4, 2013
The conflict in Syria is an escalating humanitarian and public health catastrophe. Civilians are currently caught between two armed factions: the Syrian military loyal to the government of President Bashar al-Assad and the Free Syrian Army opposition. According to the UN, the 2-year long conflict has already resulted in an estimated 60000 civilian casualties and tens of thousands injured. As if the direct effects of military force on Syrians were not enough, there has also been a full-scale assault on the health infrastructure.

Violence against Public Health Workers during Armed Conflicts

Friday, January 25, 2013
The recent series of fatal attacks on teachers and public health workers associated with vaccination programmes in Pakistan (Jan 5, p 1) have been utterly devastating. These killings have shattered the lives of the families of those who died serving their communities with basic health services. They will also undermine the effectiveness of vital public health interventions through disrupted delivery, reduced confidence, and a demoralised workforce.

One Third of Syrian Hospitals Shut, Medical Supplies Run Low

Thursday, January 24, 2013
LONDON (AlertNet) - More than half Syria's 88 hospitals have been damaged in the country's bitter civil war, and nearly one third are out of service, making it difficult for people to get medical care, Syrian and U.N. health officials have reported. December data from Syria's health ministry, released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, shows that 48 hospitals have been damaged, of which 27 are no longer operating. Syria's 1,919 public health centres have been less severely affected - around 10 percent are damaged and 6 percent closed.

Missing Fistula Patients in Northern Mali Found

Thursday, January 17, 2013
Twelve of the women who were forced out of their hospital beds when radical Islamists seized the city of Gao in northern Mali have finally been found and treated, thanks to the reinstatement of the Fistula Care Project in Mali. After a long search, the project and its local partner GREFFA located many of the missing women—some of whom had been without care for almost nine months. Project staff then transported them and ten other obstetric fistula patients to Mopti, a city southwest of Gao, where a surgical team provided the treatment, care, and referrals the women so urgently needed.

Three Ivorian Singing Stars Team Up to Stop Violence against Health Care

Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Côte d'Ivoire: three Ivorian singers – Kajeem, Onakamy and Mawa Traoré – supported by the ICRC, have launched a video clip for the song “C'est une question de vie et de mort.” The video is part of the Health Care in Danger campaign, and is a call for action to all those who can facilitate – or prevent – the vital work of first aiders and medical personnel in situations of violence and other emergencies.

Letter to President Obama from Public Health Deans

Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Dear President Obama, In the first years of the Peace Corps, its director, Sargent Shriver, discovered that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was infiltrating his efforts and programs for covert purposes. Mr. Shriver forcefully expressed the unacceptability of this to the President. His action, and the repeated vigilance and actions of future directors, has preserved the Peace Corps as a vehicle of service for our country’s most idealistic citizens. It also protects our Peace Corps volunteers from unwarranted suspicion, and provides opportunities for the Peace Corps to operate in areas of great need that otherwise would be closed off to them.

Delivering Medicines in DR Congo: In the Face of Insecurity

Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Sud Kivu province has been an area of armed conflict for many years, with various rebel factions fighting for control over the resource-rich region. The continued fighting has disrupted health services — which were weak to begin with — due to geographic isolation and poorly supported health workers.

Fighting for Docs in War Zones

Friday, May 18, 2012
When ambulance drivers in Gaza told Leonard Rubenstein about being delayed at checkpoints and blocked from hospitals, and when doctors in Kosovo described arrests and torture for providing care for rebels, they echoed the stories of multitudes in Mexico, Libya, Burma and beyond. "Health workers are trying to do their jobs, consistent with their ethical responsibilities, and are vulnerable because of it," says Rubenstein, JD, LLM, a senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights and associate faculty of the Berman Institute of Bioethics.

Johns Hopkins Human Rights Advocate Urges WHO Action to Protect Healthcare Workers in Humanitarian Crises

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
A Johns Hopkins University scholar, lawyer and human rights advocate is making a final push this week for the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO) to commit formally to documenting attacks on health care workers in conflict zones. Leonard Rubenstein, JD, LLM, faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, will be at the World Health Assembly’s 65th session in Geneva, Switzerland May 21-26, representing the Safeguarding Health in Conflict coalition.

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