Impunity Remains: Attacks on Health Care in 23 Countries in Conflict

 Washington – There were at least 973 attacks on health workers, health facilities, health transports and patients in 23 countries in conflict in 2018, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition reported today. At least 167 health workers died and at least 710 were injured. This marks an increase in the number of documented attacks compared to 2017, when the Coalition reported 701 such instances. The Coalition’s sixth annual report documents attacks on vaccination workers, paramedics, nurses, doctors, midwives, community volunteers, drivers and guards, in violation of international norms and interrupting global efforts to stop dangerous disease outbreaks such as Ebola and eradicate polio. Evidence of attacks in the report, Impunity Remains: 2018 Attacks on Health Care in 23 Countries in Conflict, was gathered from humanitarian organizations, the World Health Organization and other United Nations (UN) agencies and Coalition members, as well as from open source data.   The report offers accounts of specific attacks, including: In Afghanistan in January, a suicide bomber drove an ambulance packed with explosives through a busy checkpoint then detonated a bomb that killed at least 95 bystanders. In February, 13 Médecins Sans Frontières International-supported hospitals and clinics in East Ghouta, Syria, were hit by bombs or shells. In March in the northern Nigerian state of Borno, Boko Haram insurgents armed with automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and ...
Source: Doctors of the World News - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Uncategorised Source Type: news