By Dr Arun Mitra
The ongoing wars in different parts of the world is a cause of serious concern. The recent Russia Ukraine war which began on 24th February 2022 is not coming to an end. The consequences are dire for civilians as well. According to a recent statement by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky some 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 370,000 injuries had been reported. According to United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) nearly 4 million people have been driven from their homes and are internally displaced and 6.8 million people have crossed into neighbouring countries in the region including Poland, Hungary, Moldova or other countries globally. Nearly 20 million people now require urgent humanitarian aid, many facing life-threatening shortages of essential medicines and food.
Crises in the Middle East is deepening every day. After the HAMAS attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the Israeli Defence forces launched a disproportionate aggression over Gaza. This has killed nearly 45000 civilians, 70% of them being women and children. Bombardments have displaced over 1.5 million people, severely restricting access to clean water, medical care, and shelter, resulting in thousands of preventable deaths. Because of very limited humanitarian aid in Gaza there is serious risk of starvation. Women in the make shift arrangements are living in unhygienic conditions and some of them were pregnant and having difficulty in managing their pregnancy and delivering the babies. This is leading to spread of infection. Sometime back there was a fear of spread of polio in the region.
Almost 80% of the infrastructure in Gaza has been destroyed and raised to the ground. This has led to 50% of medical facilities being partially or completely disabled, and hundreds of health workers have been killed or severely injured while serving vulnerable populations. Many of these medical professionals were reportedly killed while actively providing aid amidst bombings and attacks. Several of them developed mental health problems while dealing with the seriously injured and watching small children dying in front of them because of lack of availability of required medical equipment and medicines. Most of Gaza’s hospitals now operate under precarious conditions, struggling with limited supplies, staff, and security threats. Only a few medical facilities remain functional, jeopardizing healthcare for millions of residents.
The new Syrian government after the fall of Asad regime is yet to stabilize and is faction ridden. Syria has been in war for a long time and has seen the largest internal displacement of 14 million people. People in Syria are yearning for a lasting peace and in that hope they are supporting the present regime. How the new region will behave only the time will tell because the present rulers are part of the Al-Qaeda and ISIS. What will be their attitude towards rights of women, their education and their healthcare is yet to be known. There are reports of scientists and intelligentsia being killed. Israel has already strengthened and further expanded its control on Golan Heights.
With so much instability in the world there is a great danger of escalation of these wars leading to use of nuclear weapons which would be catastrophic and for which medical fraternity has no remedy to offer.
As a moral, ethical and professional duty, the doctors and other health workers are trained to cure the sick and the infirm. Therefore any situation, natural or manmade, which affects health of the people, is a cause of concern to them. It is by now well accepted that war is the most serious threat to public health with catastrophic effects on infrastructure and environment and accounts for more deaths & disability than many major diseases combined. It destroys families, communities and sometimes whole cultures. It channels limited resources away from health and other social needs.
It is in this situation that the doctors from different countries gathered in Delhi on 1st December in an international seminar to share their concern. After day long deliberations they came out with a declaration demanding resounding global voice for end to wars and promotion of health. They demanded UNO to be made more effective and democratic. Protection of health workers and humanitarian aid in the affected zones be ensured. They also demanded dissolution of the NATO and QUAD. For south Asia the declaration asked for strengthening of SAARC. There was unanimous demand for abolition of nuclear weapons from earth and all nuclear weapons possessing countries to join the multilateral treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons (TPNW) passed by the UN General Assembly in July 2017. This is the only way to save and promote health of the citizens of the world. (IPA Service)
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