The World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) has issued a press release warning of a troubling and sustained escalation in violence, intimidation and persecution of health professionals across multiple regions of the world, threatening the safety of those providing care in both conflict settings and situations of civil unrest.
Alarming reports from multiple countries document attacks on health personnel, violations of medical neutrality, and the misuse of healthcare facilities whether in situations of armed conflict or during civil protests. Health professionals in Gaza, Iran, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine, among others, face violence, arrest, detention, and harassment simply for treating patients and upholding their ethical obligations. In recent weeks, reports from Iran have underscored the particular risks faced by health workers responding to unrest while attempting to provide impartial care.
In conflict zones and areas of civil unrest, hospitals and clinics have been damaged, raided or militarised, and medical personnel have been targeted inside healthcare premises.
The alliance emphasises that health professionals have both the right and the duty to provide care based solely on medical need, without discrimination and without interference from state authorities or armed groups. International humanitarian law and human rights law are unequivocal in protecting the neutrality of medical practice and the inviolability of healthcare facilities. Yet these principles are being systematically violated, with devastating consequences for both health workers and the communities they serve.
The WHPA calls upon all governments and all parties involved in conflict or civil unrest to immediately and unconditionally release health workers detained solely for performing their professional responsibilities, to ensure safe working conditions for health personnel, and to protect medical facilities from violence and misuse.
Show your support by signing the WHPA open letter calling for the safeguarding of healthcare facilities and personnel in areas of conflict, in accordance with international law
WHPA brings together the global organisations representing the world’s dentists, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and physicians and speaks for 47 million health care professionals in 179 countries and territories. WHPA works to improve global health and the quality of patient care and facilitates collaboration among the health professions and major stakeholders.
