Yaounde — These days, the word on the street in war-torn Syria is that hospitals are best avoided, even if you’re injured. "Sometimes we hear that people feel the home is safer than the hospital," said Mohamed Elamein, an information officer at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Gaziantep, Turkey, close to the Syrian border. Communities often oppose plans to build a clinic in their town or village fearing it will be targeted, he said by phone. Keeping a standardised track of attacks on health facilities and workers has been a major challenge in conflict zones. But a new digital instant messaging tool that relies on smartphone application WhatsApp has been developed by the WHO and its partners to detect, verify and log the devastating consequences of such attacks. It is hoped the WhatsApp-based tool will provide vital evidence for the international community, which in the future could be used to hold perpetrators to account. Syria has been named the most dangerous place on earth ...
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