Attacks on healthcare facilities surged by 25 per cent last year, while fatal attacks on healthcare workers doubled.
Attacks on health workers and facilities in conflict zones jumped in 2023 to the highest level since records began 11 years ago, with nearly half attributed to state forces, according to a new report.
The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition reported 2562 incidents of violence or obstructions including arrests, killings and kidnappings of healthcare workers and strikes across hospitals in 30 conflicts.
That is up by about a quarter compared with 2022.
More than 480 health workers were killed, almost double the number reported the previous year.
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 parties to share data on violence.
The report details that both government forces and non-state armed groups bombed, occupied, raided and vandalised health facilities throughout the year.
Health facilities were increasingly occupied or repurposed for military use, in violation of humanitarian law.
The most severe impacts of these attacks involved the virtual collapse of health systems, as in Gaza, where most hospitals have been destroyed and closed, access to essential supplies is blocked, and infrastructure damaged. This was also true in Sudan, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, and Tigray in Ethiopia.