Medical Neutrality

With No Specific Law to Protect Them, Health Care Workers Are at Risk

Tuesday, September 10, 2013
At the end of 2008, Dr. Dirhem Al-Qadasi, the head of the emergency room at the Science and Technology Hospital in Sana’a, a private health care facility, was stabbed to death. Those responsible for his murder are believed to be family members of an elderly man who died while at the hospital who were seeking revenge for the man’s death. According to former patients and colleagues, the doctor had a sterling reputation. News of Al-Qadasi’s death caused a media storm and popular outrage, but no one was ever tried for the doctor’s murder.

Health under Threat in the Central African Republic

Tuesday, September 3, 2013
In the early hours of Sunday, March 24th, 2013, rebels in the Central African Republic seized the capital Bangui, forcing President Bozize to flee the impoverished and embattled country. The attack was the culmination of a four-month rebellion by a coalition movement called Seleka that caused thousands of civilian deaths or injuries, displaced an estimated 40,000, and left an estimated 1.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

Violence against Health Care Workers: An Urgent Problem Worldwide

Monday, August 19, 2013
World Humanitarian Day is dedicated to those who have lost their lives in humanitarian service and those who continue to work for humanitarian causes. It is also an occasion to draw attention to the fact that health-care personnel are often among the first to be attacked in war and other situations of violence. As a result, untold numbers of people are deprived of the care they need. This is currently one of the most serious and pressing issues of humanitarian concern.

Attacks on Medical Personnel in Turkey

Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Doctors and other healthcare workers in Turkey, and the facilities in which they work, are facing sustained and intense attacks for treating patients injured during the current civil unrest in the country. By providing emergency assistance to the injured, medical workers in Turkey are fulfilling their duty under the International Code of Medical Ethics. Had they not done so, they would have risked international condemnation, faced professional disciplinary proceedings, and violated the Turkish penal code.

Health Care under Attack in Syrian Conflict

Wednesday, August 7, 2013
War, by its very nature, is expected to cause injuries and deaths. But in Syria, human rights groups and others with first-hand knowledge about the conflict there say the extent of mass killings, torture, and other atrocities associated with the 2-year civil war has reached horrific levels. Among the 23 million residents of Syria, nearly 93 000 had been killed as of June and nearly 5 million have fled their homes, some to nearby countries.

APHA Article Focuses on Efforts to Document Violence against Health Workers

Wednesday, July 24, 2013
The August issue of The Nation’s Health, the official newspaper of the American Public Health Association (APHA), features a front-page article on violence against health workers. “Work to Document Violence against Health Workers Growing” includes remarks from Leonard Rubenstein, chair of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict coalition.

Turkey: A Weekend of Police Abuse. Many Protesters Arrested; Hospital Targeted

Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The Erdoğan government’s use of force in a clampdown on protesters over the weekend has precipitated a deepening human rights and political crisis in Turkey. Human Rights Watch documented a huge wave of arbitrary detentions and police attacks on people who were on hospital premises, as well as on a hospital itself and on makeshift health clinics. With the trade union confederations declaring a strike on June 17, 2013, there were signs of further clampdown on demonstrations in the evening.

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