Abstract
It is a well-known fact that the largest group of health care workers (HCWs) in every region are nurses (World Health Organization, n.d.). Regardless of where they occur, armed conflicts have devastating impacts on health care systems and result in immense suffering and hardships for civilians and HCWs alike. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (2023), International Humanitarian Law protects hospitals from being targeted and attacked. However, in numerous areas ravaged by wars around the world, HCWs have been detained, threatened, kidnapped, or killed (Bou-Karroum et al., 2020). Threats, intimidations, physical violence, indiscriminate or targeted shelling and bombing, looting, burning, blocking, and other forms of attacks on health care facilities, HCWs, patients, transportations, and resources represent serious violations of central tenets of human rights and international humanitarian law (Haar et al., 2021).
In 2022, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) reported 1,989 incidents of arm conflicts’ obstruction/violence against health care in 32 countries and territories. Of these incidents, 704 specifically centered on damaging and destruction of health facilities, including but not limited to 468 facilities in Ukraine, 45 in Myanmar, 29 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 12 in Yemen, 12 in Syria, and 11 in Sudan. On October 13, 2023, the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) issued a statement on the Israel and Palestine conflict urging all parties to respect their legal obligations under international law, to protect access to health care, and to ensure the safety of civilians and HCWs (WHPA, 2023). Following the bombing of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza “which killed hundreds of people including injured patients, health care workers and displaced persons,” the International Council of Nurses (ICN) issued a statement condemning the bombing and calling for protection of health workers (ICN, 2023). Increased advocacy is needed by the international community to protect HCWs, patients, and health care systems during times of armed conflict. Nurses and other HCWs who endanger their lives in the service of others deserve protection and support.
