Health Workers

In South Sudan, a hospital in Upper Nile State supported by an ICRC surgical team was caught in the crossfire of heavy fighting in Kodok. As a direct result, two people -one of whom was a patient- were killed and 11 people injured. The hospital sustained material damage and because of the dangers of the in-close fighting, doctors and nurses left the hospital.

Dr. Raza was waiting for his next patient when two young men walked into the consultation room, took pistols from a bag and shot him six times. Left for dead, the Pakistani physician was badly wounded but somehow survived.

Health workers, patients, and medical facilities have come under attack in 17 countries since the start of 2014, a coalition of 24 nongovernmental organizations said in a report released Wednesday that urged a greater international effort to protect health services.

New report highlights devastating impact of attacks on hospitals and medics during the 2014 military offensive on Gaza. Seventeen hospitals, 56 primary healthcare facilities and 45 ambulances were damaged or destroyed.

Attacks on health care facilities in Syria reached the highest numbers yet in a single month since the start of the conflict in March 2011. In May alone, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) documented 15 attacks on 14 medical facilities, including seven that had been attacked previously.