GENEVA – In a new report, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition identified 2562 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in conflicts in 2023, a 25% increase from 2022, representing 500 more attacks than documented last year, and the highest ever since the Coalition began reporting. In its 11th annual report, Critical Condition: Violence Against Health Care in Conflict, the coalition documented arrests, kidnappings, and killings of health workers and damage to or destruction of health facilities in conflicts across 30 countries, or regions within countries, or territories.

There was intense violence against health care in new conflicts in Gaza and Sudan and continuing violence in Myanmar, Ukraine, and Haiti. Health facilities, transports, and patient access to care were also at high risk in the Sahel.

“Violence against health care reached appalling levels in 2023, said Leonard Rubenstein, Chair of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) comprising more than 40 nongovernmental organizations. “Whether a product of recklessness, indifference, or intentional targeting, fighting forces’ contempt for the law brought catastrophic harm to those in need of care and the health workers and systems intending to aid them. The world fails to ensure accountability for this violence at its peril.”

Critical Condition reports the killing of more than 480 health workers, almost double the number reported in 2023. The toll included doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, pharmacists, lab technicians, paramedics, and psychologists. The total is likely an undercount, as data collection on violence is impeded by insecurity, communication blockages, and the reluctance of entities to share the data on violence. You can download the data on the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) and explore the incidents visually on these interactive global and Ukraine maps.