Human Rights

Paid Only in Bullets for Saving the Future

Monday, March 17, 2014
She had lost too much blood. Four bullets had ripped through her. A surgery was under way and they could not use anaesthesia. Salma Jaffar, the sole survivor of an attack on a polio immunisation team in Qayyumabad, vividly remembers the searing pain as the doctors cut and sewed her up. For 22 days she stayed in the intensive care unit wondering who would pay her medical expenses. The health department owes her two months’ salary and the meagre stipend for vaccination, Rs250 a day, has also not been paid since August.

Health Professionals Targeted in Ukraine Violence

Saturday, February 15, 2014
Ukrainian doctors and paramedics fearing for their lives have appealed to the international community for help amid claims they are being deliberately targeted by police during bloody clashes between riot police and anti-government protestors in Kiev. International rights monitoring groups as well as local non-governmental organisations have documented scores of attacks and injuries to members of the Red Cross, doctors, and volunteer health workers treating the wounded and injured over the past few weeks.

Statement from World Vision on WHO's Role in Meeting the Demands of Health in Humanitarian Emergencies

Monday, January 27, 2014
Marie Durling of World Vision presented the following statement to the Executive Board of the World Health Organization on January 25 in Geneva: Statement from World Vision on item 13.2M, WHO’s response, and role as the health cluster lead, in meeting the growing demands of health in humanitarian emergencies (resolution WHA 65.20).

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.

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.

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.

An English Doctor in Syria: Pity the Children - The Horror I Saw

Sunday, September 29, 2013
In Syria today, there are many storms and relatively few moments of calm. I was enjoying a rare moment of peace, a time to exhale. It was a hot, balmy late afternoon on 26 August and I was sitting on the hospital balcony overlooking the olive groves. The sun was tipping into descent promising respite from its heat. Away from my comfort zone as an emergency medicine doctor in London, I was working in a northern Syrian hospital under the umbrella Hand in Hand for Syria – an aid group – and being followed by a BBC Panorama team, that was looking into the impact of the war on children.

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