The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement wishes to remind everyone that access to medicines and medical treatment, facilities and services must be available to all without discrimination or restriction.
Anyone injured, wounded or otherwise affected must be protected at all times, in all places and under all circumstances. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of their life or be subjected to ill-treatment. All detainees must be treated with dignity.
Health-care workers, vehicles and facilities must also be protected: they must never be hindered or prevented from carrying out their humanitarian mission of preventing and alleviating suffering, safeguarding people's lives and health and ensuring people are treated with respect.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an impartial, neutral and independent movement whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of natural disasters, armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with assistance whenever necessary. In this regard, and in the name of humanitarian principles, respect for the red cross and red crescent emblems, for aid workers (including volunteers), and for all ambulances and support vehicles is crucial.
For more information, please contact:
Nadia Ben Othman, ICRC regional delegation for Panama and the Caribbean, tel: +507 6280 6800 or +509 4747 6054
Périclès Jean Baptiste, Haitian National Red Cross Society, tel: +509 4895 6149
Susana Arroyo, IFRC Americas Regional Office, tel: +507 6999 3199
