Attacks on health care violate international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions to protect and respect health care in conflict.
Insecurity Insight collates data on attacks on health workers and facilities, patients for the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC).
2021 SHCC Report – No Respite
The SHCC’s eighth annual report – No Respite – the global incidence of attacks and threats against health workers, facilities, and transport around the world in 2020.
The report cites 806 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in 43 countries and territories in ongoing wars and violent conflicts in 2020, ranging from the bombing of hospitals in Yemen to the abduction of doctors in Nigeria. Attacks – including killings, kidnappings, and sexual assaults, as well as destruction and damage of health facilities and transports – compounded the threats to health in every country as health systems struggled to prepare for and respond to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Access and download the datasets on HDX. See ‘Country Pages‘ for individual factsheets and dataset access.
A Five Year Review on Violence Impacting Health Care
This SHCC report – Ineffective past, Uncertain Future A Five Year Review 2016-2020 – highlights the many forms of violence against health care. Health workers have been kidnapped, arrested, injured, and killed while providing medical care. Violent interference prevented patients from accessing care and emergency responders, vaccinators, and other health workers from providing life-saving services.
