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More than 900 health workers were killed in 27 countries and territories in 2024, according to the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition annual report - Epidemic of Violence. Most of those killed were from conflict-affected communities, killed while treating patients in hospitals, traveling to remote areas to provide vital medical care, during intercommunal violence, in their homes, and while caring for sick or injured people. Health workers were killed by aircraft and drone strikes, shelling, during hospital raids, and in shootings. Others were killed during recovery and rescue efforts or in “double tap” strikes, while some were tortured and killed in detention or killed after being kidnapped.
The highest number of health workers killed were reported from Lebanon – at least 408, accounting for nearly 50% of all reported health worker killings in 2024. Most were emergency medical responders killed while engaged in recovery and rescue efforts. Health worker killings in the oPt continued to be attributed to the IDF. The majority were killed at home; many others were killed on duty inside health facilities targeted by Israeli snipers, during hospital raids, and in aircraft and drone strikes or tank shelling.
Health worker killings increased in Ethiopia and often involved health workers being shot and killed by gunmen while transporting patients in the Amhara region. In Pakistan, where health worker killings increased fivefold in 2024 compared to 2023, polio vaccinators and other health professionals were killed in targeted shootings. In Syria, health worker killings nearly doubled in 2024 compared to 2023, with six staff killed just before the Assad regime’s fall.
Health worker killings attributed to Russian forces persisted across multiple oblasts on Ukraine’s front lines, as well as in urban centers. In Myanmar, health workers continued to be killed in MAF bombings and during armed clashes between the MAF and conflict parties. In Sudan, health workers were shot and killed in their homes, during wider attacks on civilians or in hospital bombings by conflict parties.