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From Gaza to Sudan, Children’s Hospitals Damaged by Airstrikes in 2024’s Record Violence Against Health Care
Over 1,100 incidents of violence inflicted on health facilities causing damage or destruction occurred in 2024, nearly double the 2023 total - according to the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition’s (SHCC) latest annual report - Epidemic of Violence.
This increase was driven by large numbers of incidents in Lebanon, Myanmar, the oPt, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine, with most attributed to the use of explosive weapons. Facilities that were damaged or destroyed included children’s hospitals, dental clinics, field hospitals, health clinics, hospitals, medical storage facilities, pharmacies and women’s health centers.
In Lebanon and the oPt, several hospitals were hit multiple times by IDF airstrikes, missiles, and shelling. In Syria, just before the Assad regime’s fall in early December, Russian forces airstrikes in opposition-held areas in Aleppo and Idlib governorates damaged multiple health facilities. In Myanmar, health care facilities were hit and damaged by numerous air-delivered explosive weapons launched by conflict parties. In Sudan, during the RSF siege of El Fasher (April-August), health facilities were repeatedly damaged by RSF shelling and SAF airstrikes.
The looting of clinics, hospitals, and health transport vehicles was prevalent in Cameroon, the CAR, the DRC, Haiti, Mozambique, Niger, and Nigeria. In these incidents, perpetrators took medicine and nutritional supplies from health centers, hospitals and pharmacies, sometimes as part of broader assaults on towns and villages. In some incidents where medical supplies were taken, health workers were also attacked. Read the full report. Download the data.