On World Humanitarian Day, 19 August, World Physiotherapy joins the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) in calling for urgent action to protect health professionals working in conflict-affected areas.
Health and humanitarian workers are facing increasing threats, including deliberate attacks using armed drones and so-called “double-tap” strikes, where first responders attending the scene of an initial attack are themselves targeted. International humanitarian law requires health professionals, patients and health facilities to be protected during conflict.
As a WHPA member, World Physiotherapy stands with World Dental Federation (FDI), the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), the International Council of Nurses (ICN), and World Medical Association (WMA) to reiterate that healthcare workers must never be targeted for doing their jobs.
Together, we support the renewed call for all parties to uphold international humanitarian law and strengthen protections for healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare facilities in conflict settings worldwide.
Read the full press release from WHPA below.
World Humanitarian Day: Conflict, funding cuts and violence threaten health professionals worldwide
World Humanitarian Day: Conflict, funding cuts and violence threaten health professionals worldwide Geneva, Switzerland: 19 August 2026—On World Humanitarian Day, the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) stands in solidarity with humanitarian workers around the world and calls for an immediate end to attacks on health professionals, patients and health facilities in conflict.
Every day, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, dentists and pharmacists risk their own safety to provide critical health care to people caught up in war. Increasingly, they are coming under attack simply for doing their jobs. International humanitarian law is unequivocal: health workers, patients and medical facilities must be protected at all times. Yet these legal protections are being ignored with alarming frequency, while those responsible are too rarely held to account. This culture of impunity must end.
The scale of the crisis continues to grow. As conflicts multiply and the nature of warfare changes through new military technologies like armed drones and other advanced weapons systems, health care is increasingly caught in the crosshairs. According to the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition 2026 annual report, 2,546 attacks on health care were documented across 33 countries in 2025, including 790 hospitals bombed and even search-and-rescue teams targeted by drone strikes.
A total of 455 health workers were killed, 218 kidnapped and 263 arrested or detained in 2025 alone. These attacks have a significant impact on health systems, undermining both service delivery and long-term health system resilience.
The impact is compounded by a worsening funding crisis. Deep cuts to health and humanitarian funding have severely reduced the availability of essential services in conflict settings, leaving communities with fewer health professionals, fewer medicines and fewer functioning facilities when needs are at their greatest. Nearly three-quarters of conflict-affected countries have seen their health services severely impacted by budget cuts, according to the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition report.
“Health professionals do not choose sides in war, they choose patients. Every day, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and dentists put themselves at risk to provide care based on need alone, in accordance with the humanitarian principles that underpin health care. Yet too often they are attacked for doing exactly that, while cuts to humanitarian and health funding are quietly dismantling the services that civilians rely on for survival.
This is a double assault on health care. States and parties to conflict must uphold international humanitarian law, protect health professionals, patients and health facilities, and ensure those responsible for attacks are held to account. Health professionals are not combatants. They are not targets. Protecting them is not only a legal obligation - it is essential to protecting patients, safeguarding health systems and preserving our shared humanity,” said Howard Catton, Chair of the WHPA and CEO of the International Council of Nurses.
On this World Humanitarian Day, WHPA calls on governments, parties to conflict and the international community to act urgently to protect health professionals, safeguard health services and ensure accountability for attacks on health care. As conflicts intensify, funding for health programmes declines, and violence against health personnel continues unabated, the ability of health professionals to deliver life-saving care is increasingly at risk.
Health professionals are neither combatants nor targets, and they are protected under international humanitarian law. Protecting them is essential to protecting patients and health systems, and vital to preserving our shared humanity.
