The Protection of Health Care in Armed and Civil Conflict

May 11, 2012 • 4:00 – 6:00 pm EDT

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, "in terms of number of people affected, violence, both real and threatened, against health-care workers, facilities and beneficiaries is one of the biggest, most complex, and yet most under-recognized humanitarian issues today." In the past year, though, the issue has burst on the international agenda, with action at the UN Security Council and the World Health Organization, a new campaign by the ICRC and a new international coalition. The United States has been a leader -- in pressing for action by WHO, in expanding State Department reporting on the issue, and in planning to convene militaries from around the world to examine their doctrines and practices regarding health care. This panel will discuss these developments and review integrated strategies to protect health care in times of armed conflict and civil strife.

Panelists will include Len Rubenstein, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Amb. Jimmy Kolker, Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Global Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Dr. Mark Steinbeck, Health Delegate and Detention Doctorfor the International Committee of the Red Cross. The event will be moderated by J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center.