On Sunday 13 March, the World Health Organization released a statement condemning recent attacks on hospitals and other healthcare facilities in Ukraine, which it called “horrific”. It also called for an immediate end of all such attacks, which are killing and injuring both patients and health care workers, as well as threatening vital health services.
“To attack the most vulnerable – babies, children, pregnant women, and those already suffering from illness and disease, and health workers risking their own lives to save lives – is an act of unconscionable cruelty,” the organisation said.
WHO’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA) has documented 31 attacks on health care since the outset of the war that started with the Russian invasion on 24 February, now in its third week. These include 24 incidents of damage to or destruction of health care facilities, and five cases of ambulances.
In one incident, a maternity hospital was hit by a Russian air strike, causing three deaths including a child.
There have been 12 deaths and 34 injuries as a result of these attacks, and impaired access to and availability of essential health services, the WHO stated. Since attacks are ongoing, this is expected to continue.
The organisation also stresses that such attacks also directly impact the needs of vulnerable groups, and the health care needs of pregnant women, new mothers, younger children and older people inside Ukraine are rising even as violence curtails health care access.
“For example, more than 4,300 births have occurred in Ukraine since the start of war and 80 000 Ukrainian women are expected to give birth in next three months. Oxygen and medical supplies, including for the management of pregnancy complications, are running dangerously low,” the WHO statement read. WHO warned that Ukraine’s health care system is “clearly under significant strain” and a collapse would be a “catastrophe”. It stresses that “every effort must be made” to prevent this.
“International humanitarian and human rights law must be upheld, and the protection of civilians must be our top priority.
They call for international humanitarian and human rights laws to be upheld, with the protection of civilians as a top priority. Aid and health care workers must be able to continue and strengthen service delivery, and health services should be provided at border crossing, to provide prompt care and referral for children and pregnant people. Care should be unimpeded, with access to civilians in all areas of the conflict, and health care and services should be protected from attacks.
WHO stated that, in the wake of COVID’s huge strain, “such attacks have the potential to be even more devastating for the civilian population.” As such, it called for an urgent ceasefire.
“Finally, we call for an immediate ceasefire, which includes unhindered access so that people in need can access humanitarian assistance. A peaceful resolution to end the war in Ukraine is possible.”
Source: World Health Organization
