In an unprecedented joint appeal, the heads of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have called on world leaders to halt the escalating violence against medical care in conflict zones. The letter, signed by ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and MSF International President Dr. Christos Christou, describes the situation as a “crisis of humanity.”
“Health care must never be a casualty of war,” the organisations wrote, underscoring that the protections enshrined in international humanitarian law are being systematically ignored. The UN Security Council’s Resolution 2286, adopted in 2016 with the backing of over 80 member states, committed nations to safeguarding medical personnel, facilities, and transport. Yet a decade later, the signatories acknowledge that the resolution has failed to curb the violence.
“The situation is even worse compared to 10 years ago. Today, we mark not an achievement – we mark a failure,” the letter states. The WHO’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care recorded 1,348 attacks in 2025 alone, resulting in 1,981 deaths. Sudan was the most affected country, with 1,620 fatalities, followed by Myanmar (148), Palestine (125), Syria (41), and Ukraine (19).
Attacks on the Rise Across Multiple Fronts
The pattern of attacks shows no sign of abating. In 2026, the WHO has already registered 521 attacks in 13 countries, killing 408 people. Ukraine reported a nearly 20% increase in healthcare attacks compared to 2024, with at least 2,881 documented incidents since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022. These attacks have targeted hospitals, ambulances, and medical warehouses, often with devastating consequences for civilians.
MSF’s data indicates that recorded incidents peaked in 2024 and 2025, and preliminary figures for 2026 suggest a similar intensity. The organisations note that attacks are not limited to active warzones; they occur in countries like Cameroon, Haiti, and Lebanon, where clearly marked ambulances have been struck. The letter highlights airstrikes on hospitals in Syria and Yemen, shellings in Ukraine and Palestine, and drone strikes on a hospital in Myanmar as emblematic of a broader breakdown in the rules of war.
“When health care is no longer safe, it is often the clearest warning sign that the rules and norms intended to limit the harm of war are breaking down,” the letter reads. “When hospitals and those who provide care come under attack, we face not only a humanitarian crisis, but a crisis of humanity.”
The joint statement places the blame squarely on political leaders. “Today, health facilities continue to be damaged or destroyed. Medical workers and patients are still being caught in attacks that result in death and injury. That is not a failure of the law. It is a failure of political will,” the organisations wrote.
For European readers, the implications are direct. The conflict in Ukraine, just beyond the EU’s eastern border, has seen a sharp rise in attacks on healthcare, with the WHO documenting over 2,800 incidents since 2022. Meanwhile, the EU’s own health systems are grappling with challenges such as the potential expansion of PFAS bans to include medical devices, as discussed in ECHA’s recent proposal, and the push for biosimilars to cut costs, explored in our analysis of medical interchangeability. These domestic debates underscore the importance of protecting healthcare infrastructure everywhere.
The letter concludes with a call for concrete action: states must investigate attacks, hold perpetrators accountable, and ensure that medical missions are never targeted. As the ICRC, WHO, and MSF stress, the cost of inaction is measured in lives lost and the erosion of the very principles that underpin humanitarian law.
