Under international humanitarian law, all parties to conflict must protect medical workers, facilities, transports and supplies. Yet the year 2024 witnessed astonishing tragedy for the medical profession – with health care workers killed in conflicts across the globe.

As the year comes to a close, we remember those health workers who lost their lives while working to save others’. When a health care worker is killed, their community loses not just one medical professional – but all of the life-saving care they would have provided over decades. Their loss is incalculable.

And for those who knew them not as doctor, nurse, ambulance driver or vaccinator, but as a child, partner, parent or friend, our deepest sympathies are with you. We honour the memories of your lost loved ones by supporting the health worker heroes who carry on their life-saving legacy.