Attacks on Healthcare Cannot Go On!
Recent attacks on healthcare in Sudan amidst the governmental crisis has caused an uprising roar around the world. The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations condemns attacks on healthcare and demands accountability for all perpetrators whose actions are violating the International Human Rights Law (IHRL) & the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
We have reached an era where it is not only pivotal to protect the right to health but also vital to hold perpetrators accountable. Attacks on healthcare cause a toxic chain on the provision of healthcare, starting with infrastructure destruction, to the paucity of ambulances and lastly to the absence of both hospitals and hospital workers capable of providing services.
Interfering with access to healthcare is not only a violation of human rights but also a crime under IHRL & IHL. It is time the international community stands in solidarity in aims of achieving transnational cooperation to not only limit these attacks but eventually eliminate them as well.
Thus the Federation would like to call on multi-sectoral stakeholders (the healthcare sector, civil society organizations, inter-governmental organizations, governmental organizations and human rights advocates) to collaborate in a pressing time frame as the matter cannot wait anymore.
The IFMSA would like to call all parties, with no exception, to recognize that these violations are crimes and to demonstrate that recognition by demanding accountability of perpetrators. In addition, all parties should contribute, to the best of their abilities, to secure the safety of all healthcare personnel and not refrain from speaking up when an attack is witnessed.
We would like to call on governments to provide legal, mental and social support, in addition to access to health care for victims of these attacks. We would like to call on relevant UN bodies, particularly the International Criminal Court to increase accountability mechanisms & end impunity. Lastly, the Federation would like to call on the health sector to abide by the Declaration of Geneva and train their workers to respond effectively in times of attacks.
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