The Council of the European Young Family Doctors Movement (EYFDM) welcomes WONCA’s statement on protecting health workers and patients in conflict zones (1). We stand fully behind its call to uphold medical neutrality, protect healthcare staff, and guarantee access to food, water, and essential medical supplies.
As per previous statements from Wonca Europe, and across the medical community, we continue to denounce the Russian attacks in Ukraine, including the targeting of civilians and health care facilities. We also join WONCA in denouncing the human rights atrocities and attacks on civilians, aid, displacement camps and medical facilities in the war in Sudan.
At the same time, we stress that the systematic destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza is without precedent in its scale and intent. More than 1500 healthcare workers have been killed, many more detained or displaced, and hospitals and ambulances repeatedly targeted. Essential medical supplies are deliberately obstructed.(2) We also call for release of all hostages and to stop all unlawful detention and mistreatment. These acts constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and, as the International Court of Justice has noted, may fall within the scope of the Genocide Convention.(3)
While attacks on healthcare sadly occur in many conflicts, Gaza represents a unique and urgent threat to the very foundations of humanitarian law and medical ethics. As young doctors, we have a moral duty to directly address this humanitarian crisis.
We therefore call upon WONCA and all its member associations to utilize their diplomatic channels and professional networks to advocate for full compliance with international humanitarian law. In particular, we urge WONCA to continue engaging constructively with all relevant medical associations, including those in conflict-affected regions, in order to encourage clear institutional positions and the advocacy of the immediate cessation of any actions targeting healthcare workers and medical facilities. When member associations do not demonstrate active commitment to these fundamental principles, we believe WONCA should consider appropriate institutional measures, to uphold the integrity of its core values. Ensuring accountability for violations and advocating effectively with governmental and international bodies remain essential to protecting the right to health. WONCA’s influence stems not only from its principles, but from the collective strength it can mobilize through its global network of professional associations.
As medical professionals, we must address with clarity the humanitarian situation in Gaza and other conflict zones. When professional institutions remain silent in the face of systematic violations, such actions not only persist but risk becoming normalized—undermining healthcare systems globally and affecting populations across all nations. Institutional silence carries the risk of inadvertent complicity. As the European Young Family Doctors Movement (EYFDM), we reaffirm our commitment to universal medical principles and call upon the global medical community to stand united in protecting healthcare as a fundamental human right.
Statement on Protecting Health Workers and Patients in All Conflict Zones, Including Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan
28 August 2025
In recent global conflicts, there have been hundreds of attacks on health facilities, ambulances, and medical staff. Many hospitals have been forced to close, leaving patients without treatment, and local primary care providers risk their lives to provide even the most basic health services. Estimates say that a thousand or more health workers in Gaza alone were killed, while others face detention or displacement.1
Protecting healthcare personnel is not optional: it is a moral and legal obligation that transcends borders, politics, and conflicts. WONCA stands in solidarity with health personnel everywhere, particularly those operating in the most challenging and dangerous environments.
WONCA continues to join other leading civil society organizations amongst the health care community in urging all sides in conflicts to:
- Ensure the Safety of Health Personnel: Establish and enforce protocols that protect healthcare personnel, patients and facilities, particularly in conflict zones.
- Respect Medical Neutrality: Uphold the sanctity of healthcare as a nonpartisan and noncombatant activity.
- Strengthen Support Systems: Provide resources and psychosocial support to health personnel who risk their lives to serve communities in crisis.
The impact of these conflicts on local populations is also devastating: safe childbirth, treatment for chronic conditions, and even basic emergency care are increasingly out of reach. This is now compounded by famine conditions in several conflict zones, including Gaza and Sudan. Blockages to the delivery of medical supplies and humanitarian aid, combine with destruction of food and water supplies to push entire communities to a state of famine. With sanitation systems collapsing, waterborne diseases threaten to cause a second wave of preventable deaths. Denying people access to adequate food and clean water is a violation of international humanitarian law and a direct assault on human dignity.
In every conflict, care comes first—and so must the fundamental right to food, water, and health.
WONCA makes an urgent call to:
- Address escalating famine and disease in conflict zones: Rapid and unhindered delivery of medical supplies and humanitarian aid following global standards for aid distribution, including adequate food and clean water, in conflict zones is urgent.
- Enforce international humanitarian law: Ensure respect for civilians and protect those not actively participating in hostilities by proactively limiting the effects of armed conflict on civilian populations.
- Prioritize ceasefires wherever and whenever possible: Aggressively pursue humanitarian ceasefires as an initial step towards resolving all conflicts, including in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan.
- Release all hostages and stop all unlawful detention and mistreatment.
WONCA urges governments, international organizations, and humanitarian agencies to act without delay. All parties must ensure safe corridors for the delivery of food, water, and medical care. Accountability must follow for those who violate humanitarian law. The survival and dignity of millions depend on urgent global action.
1Health and aid workers targeted in conflicts around the world, UN agency says. (2025, August 23). UN News.
