The European Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and seven national Red Cross societies are carrying out an outdoor campaign between 1 and 22 December to mobilize public opinion on the need to respect health-care providers and facilities in armed-conflict situations. A series of posters illustrating the idea that it is possible to give the wounded and the sick timely access to health care, even in the midst of violence, is on display in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, London, Madrid, Paris and Warsaw.
The citizens of these capitals are discovering posters in the street, at bus stops and inside metro stations that feature, for example, a boy who survived a life-threatening injury because the ambulance taking him to hospital was sent to the front of the queue at a checkpoint, or a woman who gave birth to a healthy baby in a military hospital because the doctors there provided care without discrimination.
“The lives of thousands of people around the world could be saved if the authorities, the military and police, and others took practical steps to make access to health care more secure in situations of armed violence,” said Peter Maurer, president of the ICRC. “When I was visiting Mirwais Hospital in southern Afghanistan, I saw anxious parents bringing in two severely wounded children who had stepped on a landmine. Fortunately, the doctors were able to operate immediately, and both children survived their wounds. Every month, more than a thousand operations are performed in the hospital, which remains up and running despite the fighting and the general lack of security.”
Measures that should be taken include giving ambulances and other medical vehicles priority at checkpoints and providing first-aid workers unhindered access to those in need of help, along with proper training and equipment.
The full article continues at http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-release/2013/12-04-health-care-in-danger-public-campaign.htm on the ICRC’s website.