Foreign Policy

WMA Welcomes Strongest Statement Yet on Violence against Health

Sunday, December 21, 2014
Commenting on the recent United Nations General Assembly resolution urging governments to act to ensure the safety of health workers, the World Medical Association President Dr. Xavier Deau welcomed the new UN Resolution on “Global health and foreign policy”. ‘I welcome the fact that we are ending the year with the strongest statement yet from the UN on the issue of attacks on health workers’, he said. ‘The past year has seen yet more deaths and injuries among health workers whose only job has been to care for patients in often extremely difficult circumstances’.

Landmark United Nations General Assembly Resolution Calls for the Protection of Health Workers from Violence

Monday, December 15, 2014
A resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly recognizes for the first time the severity of attacks on health workers, facilities, and patients in all circumstances, and demands respect by States for provisions of medical ethics and human rights law, as well as international humanitarian law, said the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition. The resolution, with 62 co-sponsors, urges States to take immediate steps to ensure health workers in all countries are protected from violence, whether in armed conflict or in times of peace.

Resolution Focuses on Role of UN in Protecting Health Care from Violence

Thursday, November 20, 2014
The UN Global Health and Foreign Policy Group is proposing a resolution to the UN General Assembly focused on ensuring the safety of health workers in conflict and emergency situations. Diplomatic, global health, and humanitarian communities gathered in New York on November 5 to discuss.