Dr. Rick Brennan Regional Emergency Director for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office. Photo: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: A research report published at the recently concluded World Innovation Summit (WISH) for Health is expected to galvanize political will to protect healthcare in conflict zones.
The report ‘In the Line of Fire: Protecting Health in Armed Conflict’, published as a result of a partnership between WISH and the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to strengthen diplomatic efforts, raise awareness and, most importantly, to end impunity. Dr. Rick Brennan Regional Emergency Director for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office. He is also the lead author of the report.
Speak with The Peninsula On the sidelines of WISH 2024, Dr. Brennan said that against the backdrop of increasing attacks on healthcare facilities in conflict zones, the report outlines key recommendations for stakeholders that can help protect healthcare facilities and workers.
He stressed the need to take the report forward and ultimately translate it into a global alliance for health protection in armed conflict.
“We hope it will also lead to strengthened and sustained diplomatic efforts, more education and greater awareness. Most importantly, we must ensure that impunity ends. Political leaders must take action and declare that enough is enough, and that there must be consequences for violating international law,” said Dr. Brennan.
“We are exploring different ways to present the report. We have some important meetings coming up, and we discussed whether we could share the report with other UN bodies. We need to disseminate, present and raise awareness of the findings. I believe the report’s findings should be deeply concerning to leaders and communities alike. Healthcare is something essential and should never be misused. Now that we have the report, it is critical that we use it to take action. We must generate the political will to ensure that people take responsibility and are held accountable,” he added.
The WISH-WHO partnership developed three WHO-led joint research projects, which provided evidence-based reports for in-depth discussions at the Summit. These reports focused on topics that require urgent attention from the global health community.
Dr. Brennan described the partnership underscoring a shared commitment to improving policy and practice.
“It’s just really encouraging to see the senior leadership of the two organizations (WISH and WHO) lending their support to what we’re trying to achieve with the various reports,” he said.
The WISH-WHO partnership resulted in three reports on palliative care: How can we respond to a decade of limited progress?; In the line of fire: health protection during armed conflict; and innovative solutions for the eradication of tuberculosis among refugees and migrants.
Jim Campbell, director of health at WHO
Jim Campbell, Director of Health Workforce at WHO, separately stated that the ongoing partnership with WISH has been elevated to a much more strategic partnership this year.
“The focus is on how we can put science and evidence into practice. As part of this, we have agreed to bring new scientific evidence to the table,” he said.
“One of the exciting aspects of WISH and the Qatar Foundation is that many of these recommendations are being immediately tested within the context of Qatar’s national healthcare system. They are also being tested by the way Qatar engages with its regional partners and participates in diplomatic forums. This immediate adoption and testing of evidence-based practices in Qatar is significant. It shows that the recommendations work, are validated and can be scaled effectively,” he added.