World Humanitarian Day: WHO launches campaign to protect and honour health workers in conflict zones

The UN agency, World Health Organization (WHO), has launched a campaign as a part of World Humanitarian Day (WHD, August 19) to draw attention of world community to the threats faced by health workers and the need for intensifying action to protect health workers in conflict zones.
According to WHO, in the year 2014, as many as 372 attacks in 32 countries on health workers were reported in which 603 of them got killed and 958 injured while doing humanitarian work in various conflict zones.

Launching the campaign, Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General said, "WHO is committed to saving lives and reducing suffering in times of crisis. Attacks against health care workers and facilities are flagrant violations of international humanitarian law. Health workers have an obligation to treat the sick and injured without discrimination. All parties to conflict must respect that obligation," reported the WHO website.
According to WHO, in 2015, hundreds of health workers have died in conflict zones and fighting disease outbreaks such as Ebola that inflicted 875 health workers of which 509 have died so far.

Similarly in Iraq, more than 180 front line health services in 10 governorates have been withdrawn due unwanted attacks on health workers leaving millions of refugees, internally displaced persons and host communities without access to health care.

In the light of the foregoing, WHO has made a call to world community for honouring and protecting health workers during all kinds of crises.

source: http://www.merinews.com/