Benue doctors withdraw services room state hospitals

Six months after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the health system is collapsing. Amid the deteriorating humanitarian situation, a raging measles outbreak has already killed more than 150 people and infected tens of thousands more in January alone. Measles is not the only sanitary threat facing young children in the country.

Authorities in Hong Kong have called in building teams to construct isolation units as hospitals there grapple with a new spike in cases. Meanwhile, Australia is opening to tourists once again. DW has the latest.

The French healthcare system is often held up as an example for its quality of treatment and universality of coverage. But disparities exist across the country, with a severe shortage of doctors in certain areas seriously limiting access to care, a phenomenon the French call "medical deserts". Although the government has decided to increase the number of students accepted to medical school, this measure will take almost a decade to bear fruit. FRANCE 24's reporters Pauline Godart and Claire Paccalin went to find out what it's like to live and work in a "medical desert".

Since invading Ukraine, Russian armed forces have hit nearly 100 medical facilities. Attacks on health care infrastructure are classified as war crimes, but perpetrators have historically evaded justice. DW investigates.

Abortion is legal in Spain yet a number of doctors in the public system still refuse to carry out the procedure, calling themselves "conscientious objectors." Their stance forcing women to use private clinics. We also head to Kibera in the Kenyan city of Nairobi which is Africa's largest urban slum; and where women outnumber men, as they struggle to exit a life of poverty. Plus we meet the Lebanese gay female stand-up comic who has no fear when it comes to breaking taboos.

Russia denies that it is targeting civil infrastructure in its war against Ukraine. But the destruction on the ground suggests otherwise. DW’s Birgitta Schülke went to the town of Chernihiv, where she met a man who's trying to hold Russia accountable.

Since their return to power last August, the Taliban have focused on policing the life of Afghanistan's women. Most of them are barred from work, but there are some exceptions. DW's Sandra Petersmann met with a female doctor in Kabul.

Kunle Adewale uses art therapy to help patients in Lagos hospitals recover. He uses music, painting, and dance to treat psychological disorders and promote mental health and believes that creative expression can foster healing and mental well-being.

Kunle Adewale uses art therapy to help patients in Lagos hospitals recover. He uses music, painting, and dance to treat psychological disorders and promote mental health and believes that creative expression can foster healing and mental well-being.

Hundreds of mothers and their children are destitute as a severe drought continues to threaten death on a scale not seen in half a century, a spokesperson for UNICEF said on Tuesday.

The government has pledged billions to help hospitals face rising inflation and energy costs. It has also promised "the biggest hospital reform in 20 years" to fix the system. That is badly needed, but will it work?

Last year in Turkey, some 30,000 healthcare professionals were assaulted at work. Part of the problem is overburdened public hospitals. But many of Erdogan's supporters are also hostile to highly educated doctors, which also fuels the violence.