Covid-19: ‘The federal government has failed us,’ says New York doctor

Israeli doctors successfully separate one-year-old twins conjoined at the head at the Beersheba Soroka Medical Center, which is considered the first surgery of this kind in Israel.

German doctors and their staff have been facing aggression and threats from vaccine opponents. They have described having frayed nerves as pandemic fatigue sets in among patients and medical staff.

Doctors Without Borders has been helping millions of people worldwide since 1971. For its work, the international emergency aid organization has received the Nobel Peace Prize. But the group is no stranger to criticism.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

Authorities in Kano state in northwestern Nigeria, are worried that a surge in 'fake' doctors has led to deaths and crippled the health sector. Security agencies are now cracking down on unlicensed medics and clinics.

Nigeria's minister of health, Osagie Ehanire said the federal government is setting up a mechanism to engage Nigerian doctors and nurses abroad and connect them with universities and hospitals in the country to address the brain drain in the sector.

Most doctors working in the region say they have experienced violence in the workplace. Since the pandemic began in 2020, reports of aggression have increased — and so have the numbers of physicians leaving their homes.

British health minister Steve Barclay said on Tuesday that junior doctors were making "unreasonable" pay demands as they began a four-day strike that is likely to cause unprecedented disruption to the state-funded National Health Service (NHS).