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"What is happening in Aleppo today and throughout Syria over the last five years is an outrage against every moral fiber in our being," said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, on August 22. He asked the Security Council to honor the health and humanitarian workers in Syria and around the world by "agreeing to stop the guns, the shells, the airstrikes, and the bombs." 

The leaders of the world’s physicians and nursing associations have condemned the continuing violence against health workers in Syria and other nations.In a joint statement, the World Medical Association and the International Council of Nurses said that the persistent and targeted attacks on doctors, nurses, emergency medical personnel and other health workers in Syria have reached unprecedented levels that should alarm the world.

July has been the worst month for attacks on healthcare since the beginning of the conflict, says the Syrian American Medical Society. There were 43 attacks on healthcare facilities in Syria in July—more than one attack every day. In 2015, this number of attacks occurred over six months, with 47 attacks between January and May, according to Physicians for Human Rights.

The Syrian government has besieged Madaya, a small town controlled by opposition forces an hour’s drive from Damascus, trapping residents inside without access to supplies, food, or services outside the town since July 2015, in violation of international humanitarian law. With inadequate food stores and medical care, 40,000 residents have suffered from starvation and malnutrition, and succumbed to disease, traumatic injury, and other life-threatening conditions.

After being on hold for 18 months due to unsafe travel conditions for health workers, polio vaccinations will recommence in eastern regions of Afghanistan that have been cleared of Islamic State militants, who had also hindered vaccination efforts by spreading misinformation about vaccine side-effects and health workers.