UN calls on warring parties to respect right to health in Syria

To mark the World Health Day, the United Nations called on all parties to the conflict in Syria to fully respect the right of all to health, the deputy UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said here Thursday.

"Access to healthcare and medical treatment is a fundamental human right protected under international law," Haq said at a daily news briefing here.

"Despite the recent arrival of aid convoys to a number of areas, certain life-saving medicines and supplies, including surgical items, continue to be removed from convoys by the authorities," he said. "This practice continues to lead to unnecessary suffering and loss of life."

More than 80,000 treatments have been excluded or removed from convoys in 2016, the vast majority by the Syrian authorities.

"The United Nations calls on all parties to the conflict, particularly the Syrian authorities, to allow for all necessary medical items and equipment, including surgical items, to be allowed onto the convoys," he said.

"Incidents of denials of medical evacuations of the wounded and sick by the parties to the conflict also continue to be reported, which is unacceptable," Haq said. "Medical evacuations need to be immediately facilitated to all those in need."

"The UN calls for unconditional, unimpeded and sustained access to all the 4.6 million people in besieged and hard-to-reach locations across Syria," he added.

The World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on April 7, under the sponsorship of WHO.

In 1948, the WHO held the First World Health Assembly. The Assembly decided to celebrate April 7 of each year, with effect from 1950, as the World Health Day. The World Health Day is held to mark WHO's founding, and is seen as an opportunity by the organization to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health each year. Enditem