Morality of convenience: the ongoing failure to protect hospitals and health workers in conflict zones

JVL Introduction

An important contribution by Kamran Abbasi, editor in chief of the British Medical Journal. He deplores the current reality which is that the international community “has utterly failed civilians, health professionals, and humanitarian workers”.

This is despite pleas from the Director of the World Health Organisation the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury among very many others for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza.

Abbasi writes:

“Attacks on hospitals and their staff are now commonplace in conflict, an instrument of battle, conducted with impunity and invariably unpunished. Syria, Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza are just the latest examples”.

And continues:

Bold, humane, and principled leadership is required to remake the international order, to strengthen humanitarian laws, to end targeting of health facilities and staff in vulnerable conflict zones, to force a global consensus, and, importantly, to hold political leaders and nations accountable.”

But such leadership is lacking, and we are faced instead with a morality of convenience.

It is urgent to change direction, to ensure the protection of health facilities, health professionals, and vulnerable people in conflict zones.

RK

This article was originally published by British Medical Journal on Thu 16 Nov 2023. Read the original here.