TRIPOLI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned against repeated attacks on hospitals and medical workers in Libya.
"The World Health Organization (WHO) warns of increasing attacks on health facilities and workers in both frequency and scale," WHO said in a statement.
The Organization documented 41 attacks against medical workers and facilities in Libya in 2018 and 2019, including six health workers and patients killed and 35 others injured.
The political division and the ongoing armed conflict in the country force nearly 75 percent of medical facilities in Libya to close or partially function and cause a severe shortage of medical staff, depriving thousands of people of medical services and further weaken the health system, the statement said.
"WHO once again demands that all parties in the conflict respect the safety of health workers, health facilities and medical supplies, and the overall sanctity of health care," said Jaffar Hussein, representative and head of WHO mission in Libya.
"Such attacks are an outrage that puts many more lives in danger in Libya and deprives the most vulnerable -- including children and pregnant women -- of their right to health services, just at the time when they need them most," Hussein added.
Oil-rich Libya has been suffering violence and political instability ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011.
The north African nation has been struggling to make a transition amid insecurity and chaos.
