GENEVA, November 15. /TASS/. Over 7,400 attacks on healthcare facilities have been registered worldwide in the past six years, leaving more than 2,400 healthcare workers and patients dead, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

"Since we started monitoring attacks on health care in 2018, WHO has verified more than 7400 attacks in 21 countries or territories, with more than 2400 deaths and 5000 injuries of health workers and patients," he told a WHO roundtable, headlined ‘Protecting health in armed conflict."

Ghebreyesus emphasized that "over the past three years we have seen an increase in the frequency, scale and impact of attacks on healthcare." In addition to Afghanistan, Gaza and Haiti, the WHO has this year verified 1100 attacks in Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, and elsewhere, the official added.

He called upon the global community to make it clear that "attacks on health care are a violation of the right to health, and a violation of international law, that can amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity".