Over 960 health workers killed in 19 countries as conflict zones lose medical capacity
A new World Health Organization data set shows a surge in violence against healthcare facilities, while Ethiopian hospitals in Tigray face staffing and supply shortages after a two-year war.
By Sakura Ellis ·
More than 960 people died in attacks on healthcare facilities and workers across 19 countries so far in 2026, according to data collected by the World Health Organization. The figures include casualties from a Pakistani airstrike on a drug rehabilitation center in Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of deaths in Sudan, Lebanon, and Ukraine.
The global data underscores the strain on medical systems in active conflict zones. In northern Ethiopia, the collapse of a ceasefire on September 24 sent injured patients flowing into hospitals in Mekele, the capital of the Tigray region. A surgeon treating patients there described a seven-day period of chaos where the emergency room was completely full and the floor had no space for staff to move.
The surgeon, who asked for anonymity to avoid repercussions, said his team operated on victims of gunfire, drone strikes, and mortar shells without cell service or electricity. He noted that the lack of communication made it difficult to predict the number of incoming patients. Some patients were civilians, while others were uniformed fighters, forcing medical staff to treat everyone without clear distinctions.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, stated that the violence is pushing an already fragile health system closer to collapse. He is Tigrayan and formerly served as Ethiopia's health minister. In a post on X, he reported shortages of workers, medicine, and ambulances, and said the United Nations is working to deliver supplies to the affected areas.
Local health workers report that the region has not recovered from the two-year war that killed an estimated 600,000 people. An independent review of data from 2020 to 2022 found that the maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births increased fivefold compared to prewar levels. In 2022, researchers found that 83% of clinics and hospitals could no longer serve pregnant women.
A health worker in Tigray counted more than 100 women who died in childbirth over the past year. He attributed these deaths to a lack of medicine, health care providers, and fuel for ambulances. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of being targeted. He noted that patients died during delivery because ambulances were not functional.
A report from Physicians for Human Rights and the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa, published in August, surveyed more than 600 health workers across three regions of northern Ethiopia. Sixty-three percent of respondents reported attacks on ambulances, and 57 percent witnessed an armed takeover of their clinic or hospital between 2020 and 2024. One worker in Mekele described Ethiopian forces occupying a hospital and forcing staff to step on the uniforms of Tigrayan rebels.
Ayoda Werede, a physician with Health Professionals for Tigray, said that while the Ethiopian military has not targeted health centers in the latest violence, other groups have stolen supplies. She noted that medication, equipment, and mattresses have been removed from patient beds. She said the conflict has created an opportunistic vacuum that leaves the healthcare system stretched beyond capacity.
