6 April 2016 – WHO strongly condemns the attack on Ma’arib General Hospital in Ma’arib governorate, Yemen on 3 April, in which 4 people died, including one medical doctor, and 13 people were injured. The attack also caused damage to the intensive care unit and administration buildings of the hospital.
Despite facing critical shortages in health staff and medicines, Ma’arib Hospital provides urgently-needed health services for thousands of people in Ma’arib and other governorates, including Al-Jawf, Al-Baidha'a, Aden and Lahj. At the time of the attack, 190 out of 200 beds in the hospital were occupied.
Since the escalation of the conflict in Yemen, health workers risk their lives every day to provide essential and life-saving assistance to people requiring health services. Once again, WHO calls on all parties to the conflict to respect the safety and neutrality of health workers and health facilities, emphasizing that these attacks are a direct violation of international humanitarian law.
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Tracking attacks on health workers – Don’t let them go unnoticed
