Tim Tai, Senior Photographer

Amid increasing violence towards healthcare in conflict zones, the School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab joined the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, or SHCC.

The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab analyzes data to detect and document threats to civilians in violations of international humanitarian law. HRL recently joined the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, a network of organizations working to protect healthcare systems in areas of conflict, especially as healthcare facilities in conflict areas face increasing threats of violence.

“Our lab is at the forefront of this work, doing coverage of damage to healthcare facilities,” said Danielle Poole, director of research for HRL.

According to Poole, HRL uses a combination of satellite imagery and other remote sensing data with open source information, such as social media, in order to document threats to civilians in near real time. Their method of data collection makes it possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of damage done.

By applying their data collection methods to track attacks on healthcare in conflict zones in violation of international humanitarian law, including aerial strikes to hospitals and clinics, as well as attacks on healthcare workers, the HRL creates documentation that can be used in advocacy efforts of the SHCC.

The SHCC includes non-governmental organizations, civil society groups and academic centers concerned with violence against healthcare and conflict. The coalition produces an annual report on attacks on healthcare around the globe and advocates in international forums to engage institutions and create mechanisms to protect healthcare in conflict.

“There has been a real lack of public data in standard systems for documentation,” said Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of HRL. “We want to improve how data is being standardized into official counts so that there is more accountability, and information to help rebuild.”

HRL has already been documenting attacks on health facilities in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, among other areas in conflict. According to Poole, early analyses from the lab have shown that for certain periods of those particular conflicts, almost two-thirds of health facilities were damaged, demonstrating a clear failure to abide by international humanitarian law.

Reports released from HRL have contributed to criminal indictments from the International Criminal Court in the past. In March 2024, arrest warrants were issued for senior military officials in Russia only days after the HRL released a report identifying 223 incidents of damage to Ukraine’s power infrastructure.

The News spoke to professionals at Yale who had investigated the targeting of healthcare systems in Ukraine during the conflict.

“We are barely understanding the scope of this issue,” said Andrey Zinchuk, assistant professor at the School of Medicine, who has done humanitarian work training healthcare professionals in Ukraine, “they’re systematically targeting hospitals, clinics and medical facilities.”

The destruction of healthcare facilities in Ukraine not only devastates physical infrastructure but also results in massive loss of life, disrupts medical staff, and presents long-term consequences on the region’s ability to recover, according to Frederick Altice, a professor at the School of Medicine who has done global health work in Ukraine.

Altice described how attackers justify attacks on healthcare facilities by claiming that they are used to harbor hostages, as well as how cuts to USAID will further strain resources and force healthcare providers to make difficult triage decisions in an already fragile system.

The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab is a part of the School of Public Health.