WHO: Syria, Iraq most dangerous nations for healthcare providers

According to a report from the World Health Organization (WHO), between January 2014 and December 2015, there were 594 reported attacks on healthcare that led to 959 deaths and 1,561 injuries in 19 countries.

"Even one attack on health care is one too many. Therefore, the number of reported attacks reflected in this report is tragic. The high tolls of death and injury to our health colleagues and the inevitable impact on health service delivery call for greater action," WHO said.

The global number come in the way of a U.S.-focused survey that noted high rates of violence against healthcare workers.

In a first attempt to compile and analyze secondary data from open sources on individual attacks on healthcare in emergencies, the WHO study aimed to give results and understanding to the exact extent of these incidences.

The study obtained information from of a review of secondary data from open sources, including Aid Worker Security Database, Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, Council on Foreign Relation and Physicians for Human Rights. WHO examined incidents taking place from January 2014 to December 2015 in countries with emergencies. Then complied the data into a single database for comparability and to eliminate duplication.

"The most disturbing challenge for healthcare providers during emergencies is when they themselves are the victims of attacks—real or threatened, targeted or indiscriminate. Yet we witness with alarming frequency a lack of respect for the sanctity of health care, for the right to healthcare, and for international humanitarian law: patients are shot in their hospital beds, medical personnel are threatened, intimidated or attacked, hospitals are bombed," WHO said.

Over the two-year period, there were reports of 594 attacks in 19 countries with 63 percent of the attacks occurring at healthcare facilities, 26 percent were against healthcare providers and 62 percent of the attacks were reported to have intentionally targeted healthcare.

Some results yielded by the study include:

• Syria, unsurprisingly, had the most reported attacks on healthcare each year, more than twice as many as any other country or territory in 2014 and nearly four times as many in 2015;
• In 2014, attacks on healthcare in emergency settings resulted in 525 deaths and 1,024 injuries; the numbers of deaths per country ranged from zero (in three countries) to 179 (in Syria);
• In 2015, attacks on healthcare resulted in 434 deaths and 537 injuries; the numbers of deaths per country ranged from zero (in six countries) to 173 (in Syria).

WHO also notes that a single attack in some countries resulted in a significant proportion of the total deaths and injuries for that year. For example:

• In the Central African Republic, 16 of 26 deaths attributed to attacks on healthcare in 2014 occurred in a single attack, on April 28, during an armed robbery on a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) hospital in the northern town of Boguila;
• In Iraq, 18 of the 71 reported deaths in 2014 occurred when a section of the Hawija Hospital was bombed on September 6;
• Thirty-one of 43 deaths in Iraq in 2015 occurred during a bombing on Fallujah's maternity hospital on August 13;
• In Libya, 34 of 39 deaths in 2015 occurred on August 14, when 12 care providers and 22 patients were executed.

“The findings underscore the need for intensified action from a broad spectrum of actors to ensure that health care is provided universally during emergencies to all those who need it, unhindered by any form of violence or obstruction,” concluded WHO. "The lack of information on the impact of attacks on health service delivery and the health of affected populations is a significant knowledge gap and a priority for information collection moving forward.”