St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS) writes to party leaders in relation to ongoing human rights violations and decimation of healthcare system in Gaza.
On behalf of staff, in our capacity as healthcare professionals working within a mental health service and human-rights-based organisation, Paul Gilligan, Chief Executive Officer of SPMHS, has written to political party leaders asking that they prioritise campaigning to bring an end to the atrocities and human rights violations being perpetrated in Gaza, and more recently in Lebanon, within and beyond the general election campaign.
As healthcare workers, at a time when, internationally, human rights are being dangerously undermined, we wish to express our commitment to protecting human rights and to speaking out for the most vulnerable. We condemn the unconscionable human rights violations that are being perpetrated against the people of Gaza. The violence and trauma they have been subjected to will have deep and far-reaching consequences, not only in terms of the continued threats to their survival and physical and mental health, but for overall societal wellbeing for generations to come.
We further wish to condemn the detention, assaults and killing of healthcare workers and the unprecedented destruction of healthcare facilities. We similarly support the calls of the World Health Organization (WHO) for attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Lebanon to stop.
We especially denounce the unprecedented impact on the health and lives of children and young people in the region. UNICEF reports an estimated 658,000 school-aged children in Gaza have been disconnected from education and had “their lives overwhelmed by mental health distress,” and that children there are now experiencing catastrophic living conditions, without the most basic access to water and food necessary for survival.
The letters ask that government parties prioritise redoubled efforts to campaign for a ceasefire and an end to the targeting of medical facilities and staff; for the safe release of all hostages in the region; for unimpeded humanitarian access to the population in Gaza; and a complete end to the grave violations against all children in the region, in line with international law and the repeated calls of the United Nations and relevant bodies.
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