Violence

Fear of Ebola Breeds a Terror of Physicians

Sunday, July 27, 2014
Health workers here say they are now battling two enemies: the unprecedented Ebola epidemic, which has killed more than 660 people in four countries since it was first detected in March, and fear, which has produced growing hostility toward outside help. Workers and officials, blamed by panicked populations for spreading the virus, have been threatened with knives, stones and machetes, their vehicles sometimes surrounded by hostile mobs. Log barriers across narrow dirt roads block medical teams from reaching villages where the virus is suspected.

Iraq: Hospitals Destroyed by Air Strikes Leave Iraqis without Healthcare

Thursday, July 24, 2014
Intense shelling and aerial assaults in northern and central Iraq have hit hospitals and other medical facilities, some supported by the international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), depriving civilians of much needed medical care. MSF calls upon all parties to the conflict to respect health facilities, to allow medical staff to continue carrying out their work, and to preserve full access to health services.

Gaza: World Health Organization Calls on All Parties to Respect and Protect Health Facilities, Personnel and Patients

Tuesday, July 22, 2014
The World Health Organization and its health partners are gravely concerned about the increasing attacks on health facilities, ambulances, personnel and patients in Gaza. Since the escalation of violence in Gaza, reports indicate that medical facilities have been damaged resulting in death and injuries to patients and health professionals.

A Procedure to Evacuate Those Injured in the Gaza Strip is Required Immediately

Friday, July 18, 2014
Reports were received of damage to Al Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital in Sejaiya. According to media reports rockets were stored in a building near the hospital, which was bombed later. Inside the hospital at the time were 17 patients in serious condition (for whom evacuation presents a real danger to their condition), staff and international activists.

Suicide Attack Kills 16 at Medical Clinic in Afghanistan

Wednesday, July 9, 2014
A suicide bomber killed four NATO service members, 10 civilians and two police officers at a medical clinic in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said. The attack took place amid deteriorating security as most soldiers from International Security Assistance Force — the NATO-run international force — prepare to leave the country after 12 years of war against the Taliban.

Israel/Occupied Territory: Civilians and Medical Workers Pay Price of Conflict

Thursday, July 10, 2014
The ICRC deplores outright the casualties and the damage caused at the Palestine Red Crescent branch in Jabaliya, northern Gaza on 9 July when a dozen staff and volunteers were wounded and three ambulances destroyed. “The human impact of this vicious circle of armed violence is worsening by the hour,” said Jacques de Maio, head of the ICRC delegation in Israel and the occupied territories. “Civilians must be protected. In all cases, ambulances, hospitals and medical workers must be ensured the conditions of safety they require to carry out their vital work.”

Nigeria Hopes to Eradicate Polio Despite Insurgency

Tuesday, July 15, 2014
A Nigerian military offensive against Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram has opened up a corridor for mobile units of health workers to vaccinate children against polio in parts of the northeast. Boko Haram, which is fighting to set up an Islamic state in religiously-mixed Nigeria, has killed health workers doing polio vaccinations during its five-year-old insurgency, although Funsho said that had not happened since January last year.

Pages