More than 2,400 health workers and patients have been killed and 5,000 injured in armed attacks on health facilities over the past six years. More than 7,400 such attacks have been recorded worldwide since 2018, said World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Since 2018, when we began monitoring attacks on health facilities, WHO has verified more than 7,400 attacks in 21 countries or territories, killing more than 2,400 health workers and patients and injuring 5,000,” the Director-General said in a speech at a session on “Protecting Health in Armed Conflict.” Ghebreyesus stressed that “the number, scale and severity of attacks on health facilities and personnel have increased markedly over the past three years.” In 2024, “in addition to incidents in Afghanistan, Gaza and Haiti, WHO verified 1,100 such attacks in Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine and elsewhere.” The head of WHO called on the world community to “make it clear” that attacks on health facilities violate people’s right to health, violate international law, and that these attacks “may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.” The best way to stop such attacks is to end conflicts, Ghebreyesus concluded.