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07/29/2014
Women fleeing conflict are far from safe – they may have to give birth on the run, without even the most basic items needed for a clean delivery. Conflict can destroy medical facilities and displace health workers, and distress from both types of crises can push women into premature labour.
07/27/2014
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.
07/24/2014
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.
07/23/2014
In light of many cases of damage to hospitals, clinics, and medical personnel in the Gaza Strip, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel has sent an urgent communication to the Attorney General and to the Minister of Defense. Yesterday, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-IL) sent a letter to the Attorney General and the Defense Minister of Israel, addressing the harming of medical facilities and medical teams, and the difficulties of evacuating casualties in the course of the Gaza military operation.
07/23/2014
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today released the latest numbers on attacks on health care in Syria, which show that – with 30 deaths – May was the deadliest month for medical professionals. Twelve new attacks on medical facilities were recorded in June, marking the second highest month for attacks on medical facilities. The violations, which are being tracked on an interactive map, show deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities, which violate international humanitarian laws. While all sides of the conflict have committed these crimes, government forces are responsible for an overwhelming 90 percent of the attacks.
07/22/2014
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.
07/22/2014
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today urgently called on the government of Israel to stop attacking health facilities, ambulances, and health personnel in Gaza. PHR also said that Hamas and other armed groups must fully respect and protect the neutral operation of medical personnel and patients’ safety by ensuring that no military equipment or units operate in or near medical facilities.
07/21/2014
A dozen shells hit the Al Aqsa hospital in the town of Deir el-Balah on Monday, Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Kidra said. He said four people were killed and 60 wounded when the shells landed in the administration building, the intensive care unit and the surgery department.
07/21/2014
OSLO (Xinhua) – Sven Mollekleiv, president of the Norwegian Red Cross, accused Israeli soldiers on Monday of allegedly attacking health workers in the Gaza Strip and preventing the latter from retrieving the wounded and dead. “Our sister organization – the Palestine Red Crescent Society – stated that their health care teams were directly attacked by Israeli forces,” Mollekleiv told the Norwegian news agency NTB.
07/20/2014
Ramallah: Health services in the Gaza Strip are set to collapse in the next few days because the health sector in the region is experiencing a serious shortage of medicines and other medical supplies across all Gaza-based hospitals.