Health practitioners under the umbrella of World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) have decried incessant attacks on healthcare facilities and professionals in conflict regions.
The care givers in their call for the protection of health personnel in conflicts urged all practitioners in the sector worldwide to sign a letter for all parties in conflicts to safeguard health facilities and personnel, in line with international laws.
Pharmanewsonline reports that there are over 180 armed conflicts in the world today, more than twice as many as in 2010—and the trend is rising alarmingly.
In a statement made available to Pharmanewsonline by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), WHPA decried how the lives of healthcare professionals are been risked while in the line of duty in conflict areas.
“Healthcare professionals are delivering emergency medical care in these conflict areas, putting their lives at risk while they provide care to others.
“Tragically many have been injured or killed. The WHPA expresses its unwavering condemnation of ongoing violence targeting healthcare facilities and personnel in all regions worldwide”, the group lamented.
It is a fact that thousands of healthcare professionals are now working in areas of armed conflict or war, saving lives and trying to ensure continued healthcare for their communities in accordance with their ethical obligation to treat the injured and unwell, without bias and despite risks to their own safety.
Dr Catherine Duggan, WHPA chair and CEO, FIP, expressed her displeasure over the development, as she called on all healthcare professionals to rally support in signing the letter.
She acknowledged the death of many healthcare practitioners through this avenue, which has negatively impacted the workforce.
Duggan said, “Sadly, many colleagues have been killed as a result, reducing the workforce available to provide that essential healthcare.
All five organisations that make up the World Health Professions Alliance—representing pharmacists, nurses, physicians, dentists and physiotherapists, have therefore expressed grave concern about violence directed at healthcare facilities and health workers in these areas.
Yet international humanitarian law requires the active protection of healthcare facilities and personnel, humane treatment for the wounded and sick, and prohibits the misuse of healthcare facilities and vehicles for military purposes.
“Healthcare facilities, ambulances, and health professionals must never be targeted”, they maintained.
The WHPA thus urged all parties involved in conflicts to unconditionally uphold all aspects of humanitarian law.
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