WHO: Healthcare Facilities Attacked 10,000+ Times Since 2018

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released data on attacks against healthcare facilities worldwide since 2018, as long-running conflicts globally continue to rise.

Between January and August 2026 alone, WHO recorded more than 900 attacks – an average of four attacks per day. These incidents also led to at least 900 deaths and more than 1,400 injuries.

WHO operates a monitoring system that tracks attacks on healthcare, covering hospitals and wider medical facilities, health workers and patients, ambulances and healthcare transport, and medical warehouses and supplies.

Since 2018, this system has logged over 10,400 such attacks across 29 countries and territories, causing roughly 5,700 deaths and more than 8,000 injuries.

Knock-on effects

WHO stresses that although the immediate impact of attacks on healthcare facilities is horrific enough, they can then cause long-term harm for local communities and those needing access to care.

Altaf Musani, WHO Director for Humanitarian and Disaster Management, says: “When a hospital is attacked, the impact is not only on the people inside the hospital that day. 

“It is the patient who cannot receive healthcare tomorrow. It is the ambulance that cannot make the next referral. It is the healthcare worker who cannot return to work, or medicine supply that can no longer reach facilities.”

Altaf referenced a study of local healthcare responses in northwestern Syria following a series of attacks on local health infrastructure, which highlighted that outpatient consultations fell by 51% the following day and remained reduced for up to 37 days.

Global examples

Attacks on healthcare facilities have been seen in active conflict zones across the world.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine in March 2022, more than 3,000 attacks have targeted the country’s health infrastructure.

In Gaza, every single hospital has been damaged, while just half remain partially functional. 

Similarly, in Sudan 37% of facilities were reported as non-functional in 2026, and just 3% had inpatient care facilities.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 12 attacks have been recorded on Ebola clinics, disrupting response efforts. The outbreak has since been named the deadliest outbreak in the country’s history.

Lack of accountability

Altaf confirmed that despite more than 10,000 attacks being recorded globally, “not a single one has entered the accountability system.”  

WHO does not have the mandate or expertise to hold attackers of healthcare facilities to account, but repeatedly calls for perpetrators of violence to face justice.

“These are not simply statistics. Behind every percentage is a patient. Behind every damaged facility is a service lost. Behind every interrupted service is someone who will be left without healthcare,” explains Altaf.  

Healthcare gains at risk

WHO’s publication of healthcare attack statistics comes shortly after the United Nations published its Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026, which warns that healthcare gains achieved over the past decade risk stalling following declining international funding and external pressures. 

It references government funding cuts for international public health programmes as a key driver of healthcare's vulnerability.

Speaking at the time of the report’s publication, António Guterres, Secretary-General at the United Nations, says that "the direction we choose now will determine whether the progress of the past decade holds or unravels."

As many attacks on healthcare facilities occur in some of the world’s less economically developed nations, significant international cooperation will be needed to ensure healthcare development remains equitable globally.