Attacks and protests against health workers in West Africa must stop, the Red Cross demanded Saturday in Geneva, warning that lack of security has been contributing to an increase in Ebola
infections, according to dpa.
At least seven members of a delegation including Red Cross staff were
killed in Guinea Tuesday as they were visiting a rural community to
educate about Ebola. Past reports from an eyewitness had put the
death toll at eight.
Violence against health workers, as well as violent protests and
insecurity in Liberia and Sierra Leone, were preventing communities
from getting needed help, the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said.
'In communities where vital work has not been able to take place,
cases of Ebola have risen, increasing the impact of the disease and
amplifying its spread across the region,' the organization added.
'Attacks such as these - born of frustration and fear over the
disease - are not acceptable,' IFRC said.
Six people suspected of the killing have been arrested in Guinea, the
country's prime minister confirmed Friday.
One local Red Cross official was seriously injured and two delegation
members are missing after the incident, according to the Red Cross in