Healthcare facilities, workers, and patients have been targeted more than 10,000 times over the past eight years, with no perpetrators held to account, according to a press release issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 14 August 2026. Briefing journalists in Geneva, WHO reiterated that the critical sector must not be targeted amid ongoing conflicts, including in Ukraine and during the current Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The agency maintains a surveillance system tracking assaults on hospitals, personnel, patients, ambulances, warehouses, and medical supplies. Since 2018, more than 10,400 attacks have been reported across 29 countries and territories. These incidents have resulted in approximately 5,700 deaths and over 8,000 injuries.
Between January and August of this year alone, WHO recorded more than 900 attacks, causing at least 900 deaths and over 1,400 injuries. That figure translates to a rate of more than four attacks a day. Most incidents took place in Ukraine, Lebanon, and the occupied Palestinian territory. Other affected locations include Myanmar, Iran, Sudan, the DRC, South Sudan, Russia, Syria, and Nigeria. Heavy weapons were the most frequently reported means of attack in 2026, followed by destruction of healthcare and psychosocial violence.
During the same period, 44 reported incidents involved the abduction, arrest, or detainment of healthcare workers and patients. Detention of healthcare workers accounted for most cases, with 94 people affected. Altaf Musani, WHO Director for Humanitarian and Disaster Management, stressed that the numbers do not capture the full picture. He explained that when a hospital is attacked, the impact extends far beyond those inside on that day. Consequences ripple outward, affecting patients, ambulance referrals, health workers, and medicine supply chains.
A study of 69 attacks in northwest Syria found that outpatient consultations fell by 51 per cent the following day, with the reduction continuing for up to 37 days. In Sudan, 37 per cent of facilities were reported non-functional in 2026, while only three per cent of assessed facilities had inpatient care. In Gaza, all 36 hospitals have been damaged, with only half remaining partially functional. Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, WHO has verified more than 3,000 attacks affecting health facilities, ambulances, warehouses, and supply chains. In the DRC, 12 attacks on healthcare have been verified since the current Ebola outbreak was declared in May, disrupting the response.
“These are not simply statistics,” Musani said. “Behind every percentage is a patient. Behind every damaged facility is a service lost. Behind every interrupted service is someone who will be left without healthcare.” He called for making the human consequences visible, using evidence to protect healthcare, and holding parties to conflict accountable. Of the more than 10,000 verified incidents, “not a single one has entered the accountability system,” Musani stated, adding that WHO’s Director-General has repeatedly called for warring parties to be held accountable.