Medics Under Fire – A Rally in Support of Our Brave Colleagues
On a sunny Saturday afternoon, a rally amassed in Trafalgar Square in London on 7th May 2016, to express support for our brave colleagues inside Syria, and to demand protection for those heros who are risking their very lives to help provide heath care to civilians trapped by conflict.
The SBMS, along with UOSSM and The David Nott Foundation, organised the rally that took place on 7th May 2016. Eminent speakers from a number of interested organisations gave poignant speeches, expressing their support to the brave healthcare workers who are under fire, and demanding protections for them.
Speakers included Dr David Nott, eminent Conflict Zone Surgeon and Founder and Chairman of The David Nott Foundation, who spoke of his personal experiences of working under fire inside Syria and elsewhere. Then, Toby Cadman, Human Rights Lawyer, spoke about the legal perspective surrounding attacks on medical facilities, and the legal framework of any future International Criminal Court prosecutions.
That was followed by speeches from Widney Brown, Program Director for Physicians for Human Rights, and Rob Williams, CEO of War Child UK
Then, there were speeches from Dr Natalie Roberts, an MSF Doctor, and Melody Redman, BMA Junior Doctors Committee
and from Hamish De Bretton-Gordon, former British Army Commander, and a world-expert on terrorism and chemical warfare, and from Dr Ghanem Tayara, Chairman of UOSSM
These were followed by a talk from Dr Afroz Khan, brother of the late Dr Abbas Khan, and from Dr Vickie Hawkins from MSF
Finally, there was an impassioned speech from the actor and activist Jolyon Rubinstein, followed by closing remarks from the event organiser, Dr Saleyah Ahsan, summing up the event, and diorecting the crowds to walk towards Downing Street.
The SBMS is very grateful for the support of all those who took part in this event, and to all those who attended to show their support. We are particularly grateful to Dr Saleyah Ahsan for her amazing hard work in putting this rally together.
Here are some more images from this memorable day.
