ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Violence towards health workers and patients in Iraq is preventing safe access to and the impartial delivery of health care, according to a study by the Iraqi Ministry of Health and the local International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
“Because health care professionals by the very nature of their job deal with situations of life and death, situations where emotions run high, they are very frequently exposed to adverse reaction by patients, their families, the communities and other people that accompany them to the health facilities, including weapon bearers”, stated Katharina Ritz, the head of ICRC in Iraq.
The Iraqi health ministry and ICRC launched a 10-day public awareness campaign entitled 'Health Care in Danger' in Baghdad on Monday.
"The campaign seeks to sensitize Iraqi society to such an issue and bring about behavioral change among the public and policy-makers," read the statement.
“Because health care professionals by the very nature of their job deal with situations of life and death, situations where emotions run high, they are very frequently exposed to adverse reaction by patients, their families, the communities and other people that accompany them to the health facilities, including weapon bearers”, stated Katharina Ritz, the head of ICRC in Iraq.
The Iraqi health ministry and ICRC launched a 10-day public awareness campaign entitled 'Health Care in Danger' in Baghdad on Monday.
"The campaign seeks to sensitize Iraqi society to such an issue and bring about behavioral change among the public and policy-makers," read the statement.
57% of medical personnel in Iraq has reportedly been exposed to some form of violence.
— HealthCareinDanger (@HCIDproject) November 12, 2018
.@ICRC_IQ has launched a campaign to reduce attacks against healthcare staff:https://t.co/aMwgdHiKy6#NotATarget
The campaign says the medical field is most exposed to violence among all professions with locals most at risk.
It pointed that according to a study conducted by the Health and Environment Volunteer Team, 70 percent of health personnel in Baghdad have expressed a desire to emigrate.
They also found 57 percent of health professionals have been exposed to some form of attack in the form of verbal, physical or tribal.
"In Iraq, threats affecting health workers and services go beyond violence directly linked to armed conflict," added the statement.
The objective is to raise awareness so medical personnel can better carry out their work to serve patients in Iraq.
The report cautioned the 98 percent of the health professionals believe fewer of their colleagues would leave the country if legislation was passed to guarantee a safer working environment.
“At the end of he day, the first victims are the sick and wounded as such attacks reduce the chances of delivery of life-saving health care for millions of Iraqis," Ritz added.
Iraq is party to the United Nations and should adhere to Human Rights and Armed Conflict humanitarian conventions.
"Sadly, more than one and a half century after these norms were laid down and agreed by states around the world in the form of the Geneva conventions, we still witness violence and lack of respect towards healthcare across all continents," said Gregor Muller, ICRC's deputy head of delegation during a speech in Baghdad.
The survey was not conducted within the Kurdistan Region.
Iraq has faced cycles of violence dating back to the rise of Saddam Hussein, the Iran-Iraq war, the Anfal campaign, US-led invasion, and most recently the ISIS conflict.
Often doctors, particularly those who study or want to study in specialized fields, emigrate to work and seek citizenship abroad. Some return the majority do not.
More than 1.9 million Iraqis remain internally displaced. Authorities have complained that infrastructure in some areas has been neglected or damaged during the ISIS conflict.
The US-led anti-ISIS coalition reported on Sunday continued extremism through some of the area in the disputed areas which the extremist group controlled from 2014 until Iraq declared ISIS defeated in December 2017.
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