Armed Conflict

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.

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.

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.

New Coalition Urges Protection of Health Workers, Services, and Infrastructure

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
A new coalition of international nongovernmental organizations is calling on the global community to protect health workers, services, and infrastructure during armed conflict or civil disturbances. 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. This marks the first time an international coalition has come together to work on this issue.

Conflict in Nuba mountains may lead to devastating epidemics, say doctors

Monday, May 21, 2012
UN aid agencies are under attack from doctors working with refugees who have been displaced by fighting in Sudan, with claims that they are not doing enough to get medical supplies through to children in desperate need. Common vaccines against childhood diseases are part of Unicef's programme to protect the most vulnerable, but supplies dried up nearly a year ago in areas of conflict around the Nuba mountains, according to research by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Discussion Highlights US and International Response to Attacks on Health in Armed and Civil Conflict

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
On May 11, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) hosted a panel discussion on The Protection of Health Care in Armed and Civil Conflict in Washington, DC. The panel featured Ambassador Jimmy Kolker, principal deputy director of the Office of Global Affairs, US Department of Health and Human Services; Leonard Rubenstein, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a member of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict coalition; and Dr. Mark Steinbeck, health delegate and detention doctor for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The panel was moderated by Stephen Morrison, Director of CSIS’s Global Health Policy Center.

The Protection of Health Care in Armed and Civil Conflict

Wednesday, May 9, 2012
On Friday, May 11, from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will host an event titled The Protection of Health Care in Armed and Civil Conflict. In the past year, protecting health care in armed and civil conflict has burst on the international agenda, with action at the UN Security Council and the World Health Organization, a new campaign by the ICRC, and a new international coalition. This event will discuss the new developments occurring in this space and review integrated strategies to protect health care in times of armed conflict and civil strife.

WHO Takes Important Step in Protecting Health Workers and Facilities in Conflict

Thursday, January 26, 2012
Last week, the World Health Organization’s Executive Board took an important step toward protecting the lives of health workers and patients in conflict zones by passing a resolution that calls on the WHO Director General for leadership in documenting evidence of attacks against health workers, facilities, and patients in situations of armed conflict. A coalition of international nongovernmental organizations, including IntraHealth International, sought this provision as part of its efforts to increase documentation of these attacks and to develop strategies for prevention. The lead sponsors of the resolution were the United States, the European Union, and Japan.

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