Health Workers

Campaign Highlights Images of Health Workers in Conflict Zones

Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Attacks on healthcare workers and facilities have become a common feature of violent conflict throughout the world. From Syria to Somalia, there is a dangerous lack of respect for the neutrality of these institutions and personnel: hospitals are shelled; ambulances are fired upon; the wounded languish for hours in checkpoint queues.

The Cost of War: Polio Rises Again in Syria

Wednesday, November 6, 2013
The outbreak of polio in the Syrian Arab Republic announced by the World Health Organization a few weeks ago is a troubling reminder that global conflicts threaten the public’s health. Violence, like the 2-1/2-year-old civil war in Syria, can lead to significant disruption and/or long term damage to the public health infrastructure, including basic sanitation efforts, maintenance of a safe water supply, basic nutritional needs, and disease monitoring and prevention.

Security, Safety, Wellbeing, and Motivation of Health Workers in Difficult Contexts

Friday, October 25, 2013
At the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, a session will focus on the security, safety, wellbeing, and motivation of health workers in difficult contexts, including conflict, extreme poverty, and other emergency situations. It examines the necessary enabling environment as well as measures for the protection of health workers from violence and from exposure to health risks and psychological and emotional trauma.

In Syria, Doctors Risk Life and Juggle Ethics

Monday, October 21, 2013
Months before a chemical weapons attack killed hundreds of Syrians and prompted threats of an American military strike, an anesthesiologist named Majid heard an explosion near his home in a Damascus suburb. He rushed to the makeshift hospital where he works and found patients with itching skin, burning eyes and shortness of breath.

Over 85 Percent of Health Workers Exposed to Violence in Turkey: Survey

Tuesday, October 22, 2013
More than 85 percent of health workers in Turkey are subjected to violence at least once during their professional life, according to a recent survey conducted among the health workers by the health union, Sağlık-Sen. Health workers who have been exposed to violence at least once during their professional life made up 86.8 percent, with 81.4 percent of respondents saying they were exposed to violence last year, according to a Sağlık-Sen survey conducted among 1,300 health workers in 15 difference provinces across Turkey via face to face interviews.

Fear of Violence Slows Polio Immunization Drive in Kano

Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Fear and secrecy have cloaked the roll-out of a polio campaign currently underway in northern Nigeria. Vaccinators are concealing their identities, hiding vaccinations under their veils and visiting some areas only with undercover armed guards, following the February murder by Boko Haram of nine polio workers in the northern city of Kano.

UN: Act to End Attacks on Health Workers - Expert's Report Urges Expanding Monitoring, Ending Impunity

Thursday, October 24, 2013
The United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council should act on the report by the UN special rapporteur on the right to health about attacks against health workers and services, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition said today. The report, by Anand Grover, the special rapporteur, was presented to the General Assembly on October 24, 2013.

Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition Condemns Abduction of Aid Workers in Syria

Monday, October 14, 2013
The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition condemns the abduction of Red Cross and Red Crescent workers in Syria and demands the release of all who are held. Although four of the workers have been released, three others have not. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the individuals were traveling to assess medical facilities in the Idlib and to deliver medical supplies. They were in vehicles clearly marked with the ICRC emblem.

Shifting Resources to Front Lines Could Protect Polio Workers

Tuesday, October 8, 2013
A bomb exploded Monday near a group of polio vaccinators in Peshawar, killing at least two policemen, The New York Times reported. Since December, at least 20 polio workers have been killed in similar assaults. Such violence has threatened the global effort to stamp out the disease in the three countries where the virus is still endemic — Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

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