Public Health Consequences of Destruction of Health Facilities in Humanitarian Settings in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Ukraine
1
N/A, Toronto, Canada
2
Adventures with Nurse Jamla, Montgomery Village, United States
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Health facilities are essential for infectious disease control and public health surveillance, serving as hubs for diagnosis, isolation, treatment, and reporting of diseases. In conflicts, the destruction of health facilities transform acute violence into sustained public health emergencies. This study examines how destruction of health facilities contributes to increased infectious disease transmission and surveillance failure in four settings: Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Ukraine.
METHODS:
A descriptive, cross-sectional analysis was conducted using an open-source dataset from the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) documenting fatalities, arrests, as well as health facility damage, destruction and attacks. Data from Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Ukraine were extracted and compared based on the frequency of facility destruction. Patterns were assessed to identify relationships between health facility destruction, infectious disease control and public health surveillance systems.
RESULTS:
All four settings experienced extensive and recurrent attacks on healthcare infrastructure between 2016-2024. Syria demonstrated the highest levels of facility destruction, followed by Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine. Across all four contexts, health facility destruction was associated with disruption of care for patients with chronic infectious diseases, increased infectious disease outbreaks1, 2 and disruption of public health services, such as vaccinations2, 3. Concurrently, the loss of health facilities impaired disease surveillance, resulting in underreporting of cases and mortalities, delayed outbreak detection, and weakened early warning systems1. These combined failures increased the risk of infectious disease transmission, particularly among displaced and overcrowded populations with inadequate access to clean water and sanitation1,4.
CONCLUSIONS:
Destruction of health facilities in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Ukraine functions as a force multiplier for public health emergencies by accelerating infectious disease transmission and collapsing surveillance systems. Protecting healthcare infrastructure is a public health necessity, not solely a right under international humanitarian law5. Strengthening safeguards for health facilities must be prioritized to prevent cascading and prolonged public health crises.
Health facilities are essential for infectious disease control and public health surveillance, serving as hubs for diagnosis, isolation, treatment, and reporting of diseases. In conflicts, the destruction of health facilities transform acute violence into sustained public health emergencies. This study examines how destruction of health facilities contributes to increased infectious disease transmission and surveillance failure in four settings: Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Ukraine.
METHODS:
A descriptive, cross-sectional analysis was conducted using an open-source dataset from the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) documenting fatalities, arrests, as well as health facility damage, destruction and attacks. Data from Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Ukraine were extracted and compared based on the frequency of facility destruction. Patterns were assessed to identify relationships between health facility destruction, infectious disease control and public health surveillance systems.
RESULTS:
All four settings experienced extensive and recurrent attacks on healthcare infrastructure between 2016-2024. Syria demonstrated the highest levels of facility destruction, followed by Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine. Across all four contexts, health facility destruction was associated with disruption of care for patients with chronic infectious diseases, increased infectious disease outbreaks1, 2 and disruption of public health services, such as vaccinations2, 3. Concurrently, the loss of health facilities impaired disease surveillance, resulting in underreporting of cases and mortalities, delayed outbreak detection, and weakened early warning systems1. These combined failures increased the risk of infectious disease transmission, particularly among displaced and overcrowded populations with inadequate access to clean water and sanitation1,4.
CONCLUSIONS:
Destruction of health facilities in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Ukraine functions as a force multiplier for public health emergencies by accelerating infectious disease transmission and collapsing surveillance systems. Protecting healthcare infrastructure is a public health necessity, not solely a right under international humanitarian law5. Strengthening safeguards for health facilities must be prioritized to prevent cascading and prolonged public health crises.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
