WHO: Attacks on hospitals killed nearly 1,000 in two years

Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in attacks on healthcare facilities worldwide in 2014 and 2015, according to the World Health Organisation.

“Over the two-year period from January 2014 to December 2015, there were 594 reported attacks on healthcare that resulted in 959 deaths and 1,561 injuries in 19 countries with emergencies,” WHO said in its first report on such attacks yesterday.

“More than half of the attacks were against healthcare facilities and another quarter of the attacks were against healthcare workers; 62 per cent of the attacks were reported to have intentionally targeted healthcare,” it said.

Syria is at the top of the list with 228 attacks that left 352 people dead.

The West Bank-Gaza Strip are ranked second with 53 attacks that left 14 people dead, while Iraq came in third with 43 attacks that left 114 people dead.

There have been attacks on health facilities in other countries including Libya which suffered 33 attacks and 55 deaths and Yemen which had 22 attacks and 70 deaths.

According to the report, of the 594 reported attacks, 366 were reported as intentional strikes; 116 attacks as unintentional; and 112 attacks remained undetermined.

Additionally, of the attacks, 53 per cent were reportedly perpetrated by state actors, 30 per cent by non-state actors, and 17 per cent remained undetermined, it added.