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STORY: WORLD HEALTH DAY / ADVANCER
TRT: 1.38
SOURCE: WHO / IFRC
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: RECENT / FILE
FILE – WHO – JANUARY 2005, SRI LANKA
1. Various shots, tsunami aftermath
FILE – WHO – SEPTEMBER 2007, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
2. Med shot, Ebola haemorrhagic fever outbreak
FILE – WHO – JANUARY 2009, GAZA
4. Various shots, ambulance driver arriving at health facility
FILE – WHO – MAY 2008, CHINA
5. Various shots, earthquake aftermath; damage to hospital
WHO – FEBRUARY 2009, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Margareta Wahlström, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction:
"Every time we have a major earthquake or floods and we see hospitals facilities, clinics, even the smallest one, destroyed, health workers killed, patients killed, you realise that there is something you can do, you don't have to accept that these things happen.”
FILE – WHO – OCTOBER 2005, MUZAFFARABAD / ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
7. Various shots, earthquake aftermath
FILE – IFRC – DATE UNKNOWN, CHINA
8. Tracking shot, flooding
FILE – WHO – NOVEMBER 2008, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
9. Various shots, patients recovering in cholera treatment centre
The World Health Organization (WHO) is marking this year’s World Health Day with a call to protect hospitals and health staff in emergencies.
Health workers and facilities often become casualties of war, outbreaks of disease or natural disasters, depriving affected populations of vital health services that can mean the difference between life and death.
That’s why WHO is launching the campaign "Save lives. Make hospitals safe in emergencies" on this year’s World Health Day on 7 April in Beijing, China.
China is still recovering from a devastating earthquake last year in Sichuan province which killed more than 87,000 people, injured more than 250,000 and damaged or destroyed more than 11,000 hospitals and clinics.
WHO says that more can and should be done to protect health services in emergencies.
SOUNDBITE (English) Margareta Wahlström, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction:
“Every time we have a major earthquake or floods and we see hospitals facilities, clinics, even the smallest one, destroyed, health workers killed, patients killed, you realise that there is something you can do, you don't have to accept that these things happen.”
WHO wants governments and decision-makers around the world to assess the safety of existing hospitals, make health facilities stronger through retrofitting, and train health workers for emergencies.
Natural disasters killed more than 230,000 people in 2008. Outbreaks of disease place enormous strains on ill-prepared hospitals, and clinics are often caught up in conflicts.
WHO says making hospitals safe from emergencies doesn't have to be expensive. Low-cost measures include not building in quake zones or flood plains, and respecting the neutrality of health facitilities and staff during war.
