To attack babies is ‘an act of unconscionable cruelty’: UN top officials urge end to attacks on health care in Ukraine |
“Today, we call for an immediate end to all attacks on healthcare in Ukraine. These horrific attacks are killing and seriously injuring patients and healthcare workers, destroying critical health infrastructure, and forcing thousands of people away from access to medical services. economy despite dire demand”, the head UNICEFWorld Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Population found (UNFPA) is declared in a Joint statement published on Sunday.
Agencies leaders said, attacking the most vulnerable – infants, children, pregnant women and people with illness and disease as well as health care workers must risk their lives to avoid harm. save – as “an act of unconscionable cruelty”.
© UNICEF / Oleksandr Ratushniak
On March 3, 2022, a woman sat next to her son’s stretcher, who had been treated for three weeks at a hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Increased demand for health
More than 4,300 births have occurred in Ukraine since the start of the war and 80,000 Ukrainian women are expected to give birth in the next three months while oxygen and medical supplies, including to manage pregnancy complications, are at dangerously low levels.
“The health care system in Ukraine is clearly under considerable strain, and its collapse would be a disaster. Every effort must be made to prevent this from happening… International humanitarian and human rights law must be respected, and the protection of civilians must be our top priority,” top officials said. United Nations warning.
They add that it is vital that humanitarian partners and healthcare workers can safely maintain and enhance the delivery of essential health services, including immunization against COVID-19 and polio, and the delivery of life-saving medicine to civilians across Ukraine as well as refugees to neighboring countries.
“UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO are working with partners to scale life-saving services and supports to meet pressing health needs. We must be able to safely deliver emergency medical supplies – including those needed for obstetric and neonatal care – to medical centers, temporary facilities and underground shelters,” the agencies emphasized.
Dr Natalia Kanem (UNFPA), Dr Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus (WHO) and Ms Catherine Russell (UNICEF) also called for an ‘immediate ceasefire’ with unhindered access to humanitarian assistance.
“A peaceful solution to end the war in Ukraine is possible‘, they were annoyed.
© UNICEF / Tom Remp
On March 5, 2022, children and families arrived in Berdyszcze, Poland, after crossing the border from Ukraine, fleeing escalating conflict.
Deaths and injuries continue to rise
The number of people in the war in Ukraine is constantly increasing. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 1,663 civilian casualties nationwide: 596 dead and 1,067 injured (February 24 to March 12).
Most of the civilian casualties were caused by with explosive weapons with a wide impact area, These included shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch missile systems, and missile strikes.
The agency believes that the actual figures are significantly higher, especially in government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, due to the receipt of information from a number of locations where conflicts have occurred. The ongoing violent conflict has been delayed and many reports are still awaiting confirmation.
“This concerns, for example, Izium (Kharkiv region), Mariupol and Volnovakha (Donetsk region), where there are alleged hundreds of civilian casualties. These numbers are being further corroborated and are not included in the above statistics,” explains OHCHR.
In their latest report, the Office noted the report of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, according to which at 9:00 a.m. (local time) on March 13, 85 children were killed and more than 100 injured.
They also confirmed that they had received a report from the Director of the Investigative Department of the Kharkiv Regional National Police, according to which as of 6 p.m. (local time) on March 12, 205 civilians had been killed in the area. .
© Mariia Shostak via UNFPA
Mariia Shostak’s baby son, Arthur, in the basement of a maternity hospital in Kyiv, where Mariia and other new mothers and their families take refuge.
Demand is also increasing
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the human and socioeconomic costs of the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine keep attaching.
Larger-scale evacuations continue to be carried out in the eastern and northern regions of Ukrainealthough they have been repeatedly delayed due to active fighting in some of the hardest hit areas, such as Mariupol (Donetska oblast, east).
At the same time, the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian assistance continues to expand, reaching more than 600,000 people affected by conflict, whose needs continue to grow by the hour.
