Health Care

At the Oscars, a Spotlight on Health Care in the Midst of Violence

Friday, February 28, 2014
Flashback to February 2011. Arab Spring. In Sana’a, Yemen, protesters peacefully assemble in a makeshift tent city, calling for an end to 33 years of the president’s autocratic rule. They are male and female, young and old, urban and rural. Their numbers grow to tens of thousands. On March 18 of that year, the protesters proclaim the day to be Friday of Dignity (Karama in Arabic). Tensions are high. Over the past few days, armed men said to be loyal to the president have built walls to contain the protesters in what had been dubbed “Change Square.” On the Friday of Dignity, as the protesters finish a prayer, masked gunmen set fire to the main wall and begin shooting into the trapped crowd.

Aid Group in Afghanistan Says Many Still Lack Access to Health Care

Tuesday, February 25, 2014
KABUL, Afghanistan — The patients in the four hospitals run by Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan are the lucky ones, by all accounts, having arrived at well-stocked facilities that maintain international standards with scrupulously free care. But when the French medical aid organization, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, surveyed 800 of those patients last year, the results depicted a dismaying picture of unmet health care needs.

SAMS Condemns Direct Attack on Medical Facility and Calls for Greater International Response

Monday, February 24, 2014
Washington, D.C. – The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) condemned the attack on a field hospital in Atmeh, Syria, supported by the Orient Foundation. A car bomb went off outside of the facility Sunday morning, February 23, 2014. The most recent reports from the hospital list 16 dead, including four medical staff and a number of children, additionally, the explosion left 65 wounded.

"No Patients, No Problems:" Exposure to Risk of Medical Personnel Working in MSF Projects in Yemen's Governorate of Amran

Tuesday, February 18, 2014
The paper explores the security incidents affecting medical humanitarian work in Yemen and the ways MSF as well as other health practitioners try to securitize their staff, facilities, patients. This reflection was born out of the high number of security incidents affecting MSF in the past three years, as much as a shared analysis by Yemeni health professionals that doctors in the country are particularly exposed to insecurity and suffer a chronic lack of respect from the patients.

Kiev: Triage in Crisis

Thursday, February 20, 2014
In the Ukrainian capital, triage centers have sprung up around Independence Square, where dozens of people have died in the fighting. This video of three minutes and eleven seconds comes from The New York Times' website. See the related article, Converts Join with Militants in Kiev Clash.

Aleppo Doctor Speaks of Horror of Barrel Bombs

Friday, February 21, 2014
BEIRUT: An unprecedented aerial bombardment of Aleppo by the Syrian government has sent thousands of people fleeing in recent weeks and exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in the city. Some of the most intense bombing came during the Geneva II peace talks between the Assad regime and the opposition-in-exile which began in late January, with 800 people dying in the first week of the discussions alone.

Canadian Heroes Confront Horrors of South Sudan Homeland

Friday, February 14, 2014
The killing had begun. Bullets were flying, armed rebels were advancing and the terrified hospital staff had fled to the bush. Inside the abandoned hospital, three Canadian doctors refused to leave. Even as the fighting raged toward them, they performed an emergency cesarean section to save a pregnant woman’s life. Then they ran and hid as bullets began thwacking into the hospital in the town of Bor, South Sudan.

Clashes Strain Health Services in Libya's South

Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Clashes and insecurity in southern Libya are putting pressure on over-stretched health facilities as the government declares a state of emergency in the southern Fezzan region. The fighting has led to at least 39 deaths, with 70 people injured, in the regional capital Sabha over the past 12 days. Residents fear the limited presence of the state in the sparsely populated south and the lack of a strong national army are leaving them exposed.

Turkey Passes Bill that Criminalizes Emergency Medical Care

Friday, January 3, 2014
The Turkish parliament passed a bill today that will criminalize emergency medical care and punish doctors with heavy fines and imprisonment for assisting those in need. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is urging the president of the Turkish Republic, Abdullah Gul, not to sign the bill, which would have a chilling effect on access to medical care.

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