Amnesty International: Governments should be held accountable for the deaths of health workers
More than 3,000 health workers have died from the coronavirus across the world and governments must be held accountable for their deathsHuman rights group Amnesty International said today.
Russia, UK and U.S They top the list of countries with the highest number of deaths of health workers, according to the report “Global: Health workers silenced, exposed and attacked.”
Of 79 countries examined, Amnesty found that:
In Russia, 545 health workers had died from covid-19.
The United Kingdom recorded 540 deaths, including 262 social workers.
The United States has 507 health worker deaths.
“Countries that have not yet seen the worst of the pandemic should not repeat the mistakes of governments whose lack of protection of workers’ rights has had devastating consequences,” said Sanhita Ambast, researcher and adviser on economic, social and cultural events of Amnesty International.
Threats to speak
The report says health workers and essential workers have faced retaliation by authorities after being threatened with arrest, violence, lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and, in some cases, lack of payment. For his job.
Two Russian female doctors face retaliation after complaining about the lack of PPE. One of them was charged under the laws of news fake from Russia and fined up to $ 1,443, while the second faces disciplinary proceedings that could result in her dismissal, Amnesty found.
“Frontline health workers are the first to know if the politics government is not working, and the authorities that silence them cannot seriously affirm that they are giving priority to public health, ”Ambast added.
Choosing “between death and prison”
An unidentified Egyptian doctor told Amnesty that doctors who report his conditions face threats to his life and interrogations by the National Security Agency, as well as sanctions.
“Many (doctors) prefer to pay for their own personal equipment to avoid this tiring stretch and slack. (The authorities) are forcing doctors to choose between death and prison, “the unidentified Egyptian doctor told Amnesty.
Amnesty said the 3,000 deaths are likely to be underreporting due to a lack of reporting and differences in the way countries count and collect data.
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