ICRC, MSF Demand Stronger Protection for Health Workers in War Zones

By Ali Mohammed Zanna, Maiduguri

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have called for stronger measures to protect healthcare workers, patients and medical facilities during armed conflicts.

The organisations made the call during a webinar titled “Health Care Under Attack, From Evidence to Action”, held on Thursday.

Legal Adviser at the ICRC Headquarters, Ms Supriya Rao, said the protection of healthcare was a fundamental obligation under international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols.

According to her, medical personnel, hospitals, ambulances and other medical facilities are accorded special protection because they must remain operational to provide care to wounded and sick people.

Rao said hospitals were presumed to be protected under international humanitarian law, adding that circumstances in which such protection could be lost were narrow and exceptional.

She also stressed that the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution remained applicable during military operations.

Rao said the Global IHL Initiative, launched in 2024, had brought states and humanitarian organisations together to strengthen political commitment and develop a common technical understanding of the protection of healthcare.

She disclosed that 118 states had joined the initiative, while more than 160 countries had participated in consultations.

She added that Nigeria, Pakistan, Spain and Uruguay were co-chairing the initiative’s hospital-protection workstream.

Also speaking, MSF International’s Regional Humanitarian Representative for the Middle East and North Africa, Ms Reem Mougheith, said attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel remained a persistent problem despite the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2286.

She said the resolution was designed to strengthen the protection of medical personnel and facilities in conflict situations, but healthcare workers continued to face serious risks while providing essential services.

Mougheith recalled the 2015 attack on an MSF trauma centre in Kunduz, Afghanistan, which killed 42 people, including 14 MSF staff.

She also cited a recent attack on Jabal Ahmed Hospital in South Lebanon, where, according to Ministry of Health figures, four people were killed and 127 injured, including 39 hospital staff.

She said the attack destroyed the hospital’s intensive care unit and disrupted surgical and radiology services, further restricting access to urgent medical care.

According to her, attacks had also disrupted healthcare services in Sudan and Gaza, with medical teams sometimes forced to suspend or interrupt treatment.

Mougheith said the situation placed healthcare workers in difficult circumstances, as they were often forced to choose between continuing to care for patients and protecting their own lives.

She stressed that healthcare workers were themselves members of communities affected by conflict, displacement and destruction.

The MSF representative therefore called for meaningful accountability and independent investigations into attacks on healthcare.

She said documenting attacks alone was insufficient, urging parties to conflicts to accept responsibility and respect the legal protection granted to medical missions.

She called on all parties to ensure that healthcare workers, medical facilities and patients could safely access and provide essential services during armed conflicts.