By Ellen WulfhorstDocumented attacks on health workers in conflict areas increased dramatically last year, endangering both children waiting for polio vaccines and efforts to contain the latest outbreak of Ebola, research shows. The violence, from bombings, burnings and armed takeovers of hospitals and clinics to attacks on ambulances and kidnappings, injured 710 health workers, it said. The number of documented attacks rose significantly from the 701 reported attacks, also in 23 countries, in 2017, it said. Of critical significance were attacks on health workers in northeastern Congo that forced many clinics to close temporarily, the coalition said in its report. In Libya, Yemen and in northern Nigeria, more than half of the health facilities are either closed or no longer fully functioning, it said.

Source: Libya Today May 15, 2019 03:56 UTC