Syria

Today, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition released its eighth annual report, documenting the global incidence of attacks and threats against health workers, facilities, and transport around the world. 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.

Physician for Human Right’s director of policy, Susannah Sirkin, addressed the UN Security Council on July 30, 2019, demanding that the Secretary-General launch an immediate investigation into recent attacks on health care in Idlib and northwestern Syria in violation of protection agreements. From March 2011 through July 2019, PHR corroborated 578 attacks on at least 350 separate facilities and documented the killing of 890 medical personnel.

The abduction, arrest, and killing of thousands of health care workers, as well as the destruction of and damage to hospitals and clinics, have profound impacts on the health and well-being of populations for years and even decades to come.

Renewed bombing of hospitals in Syria’s six-year civil war by forces loyal to the government of Bashar al-Assad has sparked strong condemnations by human rights groups and despair among local doctors, who accuse the international community of ignoring attacks on medical facilities.

New report from the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition shows the extent and intensity of violence against health workers globally remains alarmingly high and calls on the UN Security Council and countries to take concrete steps toward preventing attacks and ending impunity.