The World Health Organization (WHO) made a statement in favor of protecting health workers in conflicts and disasters, on the occasion today of World Humanitarian Assistance Day.
The magnitude, complexity and frequency of serious emergencies in the whole world increased, hence the call by the WHO to put an end to attacks against health workers in conflicts and other emergencies, because they are violations of the the fundamental right to health.
The health organization highlighted the cases of systematic attacks against professionals in hospitals, clinics and ambulances in Syria, the Gaza Strip, the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan and other regions.
The threats and harassment that health workers go through in West African countries also constitute a worrying element of the epidemic outbreak caused by the Ebola virus, according to a WHO communique.
These professionals, despite assuming personal risks to render primary medical assistance, are threatened and rejected, and undergo stigmatization, the document said.
Doctors, nurses and the rest of the personnel have to be able carry out their humanitarian work to save lives, without the threat of violence or insecurity, said WHO Director Margaret Chan.
Richard Brennan, director of the organization’s Department of Emergency Risk Management and Humanitarian Response, said the WHO has the specific mandate of protecting the human right to health, especially in the case of people affected by humanitarian emergencies, he asserted. (PL)