Violence

Beyond Belief: Health Care as a Weapon

Friday, April 10, 2015
This week I took an online course offered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about health care responsibilities in times of conflict. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to consider the ethics of being a health worker in a war situation in today’s disturbing reality of what war is. There is one especially harrowing and dramatic video clip in the course: it shows the 2009 graduation ceremony of a group of Somali doctors—the first to graduate in many years. And as we look at the young doctors, proud in their robes, there is an explosion that cuts off the speaker and the picture—and then the scene is one of bodies everywhere.

Under the Gun: Practicing Medicine in Syria

Tuesday, March 10, 2015
It hurts me that my country needs doctors and I left. I was completing my medical residency at a public hospital when anti-government protests first broke out in Syria. By the end of 2011, government security forces were bringing detained members of the opposition to my hospital for treatment. Members of the security forces would insult and physically attack the medical staff, while also causing chaos by shooting their weapons into the air.

Yemen: ICRC Calls for Unimpeded Delivery of Medical Supplies as Heavy Conflict Persists

Tuesday, March 31, 2015
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Tuesday called for the urgent removal of obstacles to the delivery to Yemen of vital medical supplies needed to treat casualties from a week of deadly clashes and air strikes. A shipment of ICRC medical supplies sufficient to treat from 700 to 1,000 people was due to arrive by plane on Tuesday for distribution to hospitals across the country that are running low on the means to treat the war wounded. So far, efforts to negotiate the safe arrival of the plane have not been successful.

Yemen: Badly Needed Medical Supplies and Health Personnel Unable to Reach Conflict Affected Areas of Yemen

Tuesday, March 31, 2015
More medical supplies and trained health personnel are urgently needed in Yemen as the violence there escalates, but bringing in this essential support is currently impossible, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said. “MSF is currently unable to deploy additional emergency medical staff to Yemen, where they are badly needed,” said Dr Greg Elder, MSF Director of Operations. “We urgently need to find ways to get humanitarian relief and personnel inside the country.”

Central African Republic Health Emergency at a Crossroads: Help Needed Now

Wednesday, March 25, 2015
While there have been slight improvements in the security situation in parts of the Central African Republic (CAR), the country is still in the grips of a major health crisis, following years of conflict and under-development. Only 55% of health facilities in the country are functioning, and most rely on support from non-governmental organizations and UN agencies like WHO.

Chicago Doctors Risk Arrest, Torture to Aid Dire Medical Care Void in Syria

Thursday, March 12, 2015
A humanitarian report to be released Thursday addresses the dire medical situation in Syria and reports how doctors from all over the world—including here in Chicago—are being arrested and tortured simply for trying to save lives. “This is my fifth visit into Aleppo which is considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world, especially for healthcare workers,” said Chicago-area critical care specialist Dr. Zaher Sahloul.

Doctors in the Crosshairs: Four Years of Attacks on Health Care in Syria

Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Four years after the start of the civil war in Syria, deliberate and indiscriminate attacks have decimated the ranks of health professionals and devastated the medical infrastructure, exacerbating an acute humanitarian crisis, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said in a report released today. The PHR report and interactive map tracking these violations document the unlawful killing of 610 medical personnel and 233 illegal attacks on 183 medical facilities throughout the country over the past four years.

Abducted Polio Immunization Team Found Murdered in Pakistan

Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Four members of a polio immunization team have been found murdered after being kidnapped in southwest Pakistan, officials said Wednesday. Local militants had abducted the vaccination worker, two local tribal policemen and a driver in the Zhob district of Baluchistan province on Saturday. Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio remains endemic. But attempts to eradicate it have been badly hit by opposition from militants and attacks on immunization teams that have now claimed 71 lives since December 2012.

Attacks on Health Workers Hamper Ebola Fight

Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Nearly one year since the Ebola epidemic broke out in Guinea and later spread to other West African nations, frontline health workers still come under attacks. Lack of awareness and cultural beliefs are to blame. “These attacks range from verbal abuse to physical,” Moustapha Diallo, spokesperson for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Guinea, told DW in an interview.

Canada Deeply Concerned by Shooting and Kidnapping of Polio Workers in Pakistan

Monday, February 16, 2015
The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, issued the following statement: “Humanitarian, development and security personnel should not have to fear for their lives as they provide critical assistance to the Pakistani people. There is no possible justification for such violence against health workers and those who protect them.”

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