Conflict

U.N. Reports Improved Aid Access in Syria, But Outlook Bleak

Thursday, August 28, 2014
Humanitarian access in Syria has improved since the U.N. Security Council last month authorized the delivery of emergency aid across the Syrian border without the government's consent, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report. But he warned that designated terrorist groups continue to prevent aid workers from accessing some of the estimated 10.8 million people in Syria in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

On the Frontlines of Armed Conflict: A First Responder's Story

Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Emergency room nurse Nora Hellman is a frontline health worker who has responded following natural disasters and during armed conflicts around the world to provide lifesaving medical care. With a background in wilderness medicine, Nora has deployed to extremely difficult working conditions with International Medical Corps but is quick to point out the courageousness and hard work of the local staff she worked alongside throughout numerous disasters.

Ebola Crisis: Confusion as Patients Vanish in Liberia

Sunday, August 17, 2014
An angry mob attacked the quarantine centre in Monrovia's densely populated West Point township on Saturday evening. Rebecca Wesseh, who witnessed the attack, told the AFP news agency: "They broke down the door and looted the place. The patients have all gone. "The attackers, mostly young men armed with clubs, shouted insults about President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and yelled "there's no Ebola", she said, adding that nurses had also fled the centre.

A Multidimensional Approach to Safeguarding Health Workers

Friday, August 15, 2014
Local and international health workers in Libya face a complex array of threats to their physical, financial, and emotional security. Earlier this month, Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy and Federal Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj organized evacuations for thousands of Indian nurses who worked at Libyan hospitals in Tripoli and Benghazi.

Violence against Health Care: The Problem and the Law

Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Health workers and patients face extraordinary risks in today’s armed conflicts. Part I of the International Review of the Red Cross’s thematic issue on violence against health care focuses on patterns of attacks, based on results from data collection and field studies. The issue also outlines the legal and ethical frameworks that apply to the provision of health care.

UN Warns of 'Rapidly Unfolding' Health Disaster in Gaza

Saturday, August 2, 2014
Weeks of intense fighting has left medical services and facilities in the Gaza Strip “on the verge of collapse,” according to senior United Nations officials in the region who today warned that a health disaster of widespread proportions is rapidly unfolding as the conflict grinds on. “We are now looking at a health and humanitarian disaster”, warned James W. Rawley, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territory, adding: “The fighting must stop immediately.”

Gaza: Health Crisis Looms for Trapped Civilians

Saturday, August 2, 2014
Overnight Israel punished the town of Rafah, 30 kilometres south of Gaza, relentlessly. It’s where the Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin went missing on Friday after an ambush by Hamas forces. In the past 24 hours, more than 60 people have died there, according to the health ministry. The only acute hospital was evacuated after a shell hit the entrance of its emergency room. At the Shifa hospital in Gaza City doctors are struggling.

Helping Children, Despite Death Threats: A Vaccinator Explains

Sunday, August 3, 2014
Being a front-line health worker usually isn't controversial. But in Pakistan, it can get you killed. The Taliban went on an offensive against polio immunization in 2012 after it became clear that the CIA used a fake hepatitis vaccination campaign to gather intelligence on Osama bin Laden. Since then, more than 60 polio workers have been gunned down.

Worst Place to be a Mother: Why We Need to Address Childbirth in Conflict Zones

Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Women fleeing conflict are far from safe – they may have to give birth on the run, without even the most basic items needed for a clean delivery. Conflict can destroy medical facilities and displace health workers, and distress from both types of crises can push women into premature labour.

Iraq: Hospitals Destroyed by Air Strikes Leave Iraqis without Healthcare

Thursday, July 24, 2014
Intense shelling and aerial assaults in northern and central Iraq have hit hospitals and other medical facilities, some supported by the international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), depriving civilians of much needed medical care. MSF calls upon all parties to the conflict to respect health facilities, to allow medical staff to continue carrying out their work, and to preserve full access to health services.

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