WHO chief draws attention to health workers in humanitarian crises

On the occasion of Wednesday's World Humanitarian Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Margaret Chan, called on the world to pay attention to the contributions and sacrifices of health workers in responding to humanitarian crises.

Since the first World Humanitarian Day was established in 2008, Chan said in a statement, the demands on emergency responders had been unprecedented, with 82.5 million people in 37 countries needing humanitarian assistance.

According to Chan, the WHO is leading the health response to five major humanitarian crises, where more than 60 million people, from West Africa to Yemen, urgently require a wide range of health care services.

Chan said front-line health workers had provided health care to millions of people under the demanding conditions of outbreaks such as Ebola, natural disasters, and armed conflict. In West Africa, 875 health workers were infected with Ebola and more than half of them died.

She noted these efforts were made all the more heroic by the increasing frequency of attacks on health care workers and facilities.

In 2014, WHO received 372 reports of such attacks in 32 countries, resulting in nearly 1,000 injuries and more than 600 deaths.

Furthermore, armed conflicts and protracted emergencies frequently left health facilities damaged, further depriving affected populations of life-saving care. Repairing the health system could take years, she said.

As attacks against health care workers and facilities are flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, Chan said all parties to conflict must respect that health workers have an obligation to treat the sick and injured without discrimination. Endit