Health Workers

Last month, Dr. Saeed al-Samahiji, a Bahraini ophthalmologist, was arrested from his home to begin serving a one-year prison sentence after being convicted of “insulting the King of Bahrain” at a funeral last year. Dr. Al-Samahiji was among 20 medics in Bahrain that were convicted by a special military court on 29 September 29, 2011, for treating Bahraini citizens who had been attacked by security forces in the brutal government crackdown in response to peaceful protests in February of that year.

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.

IntraHealth International joins the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition in calling on the government of Israel, Hamas, and armed groups to respect humanitarian law and cease targeting health facilities and health workers in their attacks. We call on all groups to ensure that civilians maintain access to much-needed health care.

Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have expropriated ambulances to transport able-bodied fighters and threatened medical staff, according to a Human Rights Watch report. The organisation, which has also criticised pro-Kiev forces for using imprecise Grad rockets in civilian areas, found a number of instances of rebels stationing fighters at hospitals, seizing or destroying medical equipment and using ambulances to transport fighters.

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.