WHO: Attacks On Healthcare Workers In Lebanon Highest Globally

11/22/2024 8:04:40 AM

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) GENEVA, Nov 22 (KUNA) -- The World health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that the rate of attacks on health workers in Lebanon is the highest in the world even when compared to Gaza and Ukraine.
Between the 7th October 2023 and 18th November this year 226 health workers were killed and 199 others were injured, the WHO said in a press release.
65 out of 137 attacks on health facilities in Lebanon - nearly half - resulted in the death of at least one health worker or patient during the same period, it added.
The WHO explained that global average of fatal attacks on health facilities is 13.3 percent according to data from 13 countries included in the WHO's the Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA) during the same period. These countries include Ukraine, Sudan and the occupied Palestinian territory.
It noted that in the occupied Palestinian territory fatal attacks accounted for 9.6 percent of the total 1196 attacks on health care facilities during the same period.
For his part, the WHO Representative to Lebanon Abdel Nasser Abu Bakr expressed deep concern about the recurring pattern of attacks on health facilities in recent years particularly in Gaza and Lebanon.
He highlighted that the last three months - September, October and November - were the deadliest for health workers accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total fatalities.
Abu Bakr added: "What the statistics do not capture is the long-term impact including patients who cannot access care women and girls who are deprived of reproductive health services and lives lost due to the absence of health care."
He noted that Lebanon's health system is under severe strain with 15 out of 153 hospitals either fully or partially inoperable. In addition, one-third of primary health care centers have ceased operations due to the current conditions. Approximately 3,600 confirmed death and over 15,000 injuries have been recorded. (end)
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