By Bunmi Yekini
Lebanon has become the most dangerous place in the world for health workers, with nearly half of attacks on health care proving fatal. According to the WHO’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA), between October 7, 2023, and November 21, 2024, 47% of attacks in Lebanon – 65 out of 137 – resulted in the death of at least one health worker or patient, a figure alarmingly higher than the global average of 13.3%.
“These figures reveal yet again an extremely worrying pattern,” said Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, WHO Representative in Lebanon. “Depriving civilians of access to lifesaving care and targeting health providers is a breach of international humanitarian law. It’s unequivocal.”
During this period, Lebanon saw 226 deaths and 199 injuries among health workers and patients. The majority of incidents targeted health personnel (68%), health transport (63%), and health facilities (26%).
Lebanon’s health system, already strained by economic and political crises, is under immense pressure. Of the country’s 153 hospitals, 15 have ceased operations or are functioning only partially. In Nabatieh, one of Lebanon’s eight governorates, hospital bed capacity has plunged by 40%.
“Casualty numbers among health workers of this scope would debilitate any country, not just Lebanon,” Dr. Abubakar emphasized. “But what the numbers alone cannot convey is the long-term impact… ultimately, the lives lost because of the absence of health care.”
The consequences of such attacks are devastating. Patients miss critical treatments, children lose access to immunizations, and women are deprived of maternal and reproductive health services.
WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. Hanan Balkhy, condemned the attacks as a violation of international law. “Indiscriminate attacks on health care are a violation of human rights that cannot become the new normal—not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, nowhere,” she stated.
Dr. Balkhy called for accountability and adherence to international humanitarian law, including principles of precaution, distinction, and proportionality. “Beyond the loss of life, the death of health workers is a loss of years of investment and a crucial resource to a fragile country going forward,” she concluded.
Globally, the SSA recorded 1,246 attacks on health care in 13 countries between January 1, 2024, and November 18, 2024. These incidents killed 730 health workers and patients and injured 1,255.
The SSA, established in 2017, continues to monitor these attacks, advocating for risk reduction and resilience measures to protect health care workers and facilities worldwide.