Healthcare staff face rising violence worldwide: WHO

Geneva, Switzerland | Xinhua | Over 2,700 attacks on healthcare workers and patients have been recorded in 17 countries or territories affected by conflicts since Dec. 2017, killing 700 people and injuring more than 2,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Presenting the findings of the WHO’s latest “Attacks on Health Care” report, the organization’s representatives said that one out of six such attacks resulted in a loss of life.

“We are deeply concerned that hundreds of health facilities have been destroyed or closed, health workers killed and injured, and millions of people denied the healthcare they deserve in Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria, Mozambique, Nigeria, the occupied Palestinian territory, Myanmar, the Central African Republic and Somalia, among others,” the report said.

In 2020, alongside the spread of COVID-19 in the world, 333 confirmed assaults were reported to the WHO, killing 239 healthcare workers and patients.

According to the WHO, 588 attacks have been reported this year on healthcare workers.

The coronavirus pandemic has been especially hard on hospital workers, nurses and doctors as they are frequent victims of discrimination and physical assaults, the WHO said.

*****

Xinhua