Violence

Gunmen have shot dead at least two policemen providing security to a team of polio workers in north-west Pakistan. A polio worker was also killed in a separate attack, local media have reported. The two policemen were travelling from the town of Swabi to Topi by motorbike when they were attacked. The polio worker was shot on the outskirts of Peshawar.

Hundreds of thousands of people living in worn-torn countries are affected by attacks on medics, the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) said. The comments come ahead of a meeting of leading medics and humanitarian organisations which aims to establish practical ways to protect healthcare workers in conflict. The meeting, which is hosted by the RSM, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the British Red Cross, hopes to examine measures to protect health workers so they can safely deliver care in war zones.

Physicians for Human Rights has long-condemned the use of health care workers for intelligence work, as it destroys the trust necessary for effective doctor-patient relationships and leaves patients suspicious of doctors’ medical advice. Kidnappings that recently took place in Pakistan are just one example among many of distrust of health care workers, which has served to increase the number of polio cases in the country.

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 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.