MMS Round Table: Health under attack - how to enforce international law?

Attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel have increased immensely in recent years. Whether in Sudan, Kurdistan or Ukraine, the destruction of healthcare infrastructure seems to have become a strategy. The renowned medical journal The Lancet calls it a "weaponisation of healthcare". The sad highlight is the more than 1,000 health workers killed as a result of the war in Gaza. These attacks are prohibited under the Geneva Convention and constitute alleged war crimes. Switzerland is the depositary state of the Geneva Convention and therefore has a special responsibility. This was most recently reaffirmed in 2018 in a multi-stakeholder Call to Action on Universal Health Coverage in Emergencies.

Using concrete examples, the round table will look at the importance of the specific protection of healthcare facilities and personnel in the context of war and conflict and ask how the enforcement of international law can be strengthened.

With representatives from the Kurdish Red Crescent, Médecins du Monde and medico international, among others. Medicus Mundi Schweiz and medico international schweiz invite you:

Date: Wednesday, 9 April 2025
Time: 14.00 – 17.00
Venue: Progr Bern, Kleine Bühne

Registration at Livia Kläui: lklaeui@medicusmundi.ch