This report is based on 2,398 incidents of violence against health care. The data on those incidents was collected from various sources in 11 countries between January 2012 and December 2014 and analysed by the ICRC. The objective was to study and identify the main types of acts and threats of violence against health care in armed conflicts and other emergencies and their effects on people, health-care facilities and medical transports. This report highlights the urgent need to step up and implement measures, particularly those that address the following issues:
- Protection of health-care facilities : most of the incidents documented occurred against, inside or within the perimeter of health-care facilities.
- Respect for medical ethics : health-care personnel were subjected to threats and coerced to act against medical ethics and/or to provide free treatment.
- Safe access to health care – violence against medical transports involved direct or indirect attacks and obstruction, also during demonstrations.
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