Attacks against health-care personnel must stop, especially as the world fights COVID-19

Yet not everyone appreciates their efforts and contributions. Since the beginning of this pandemic, headlines have also captured stories of health-care personnel facing attacks as they travel to and from health-care facilities. Governmental failures in some countries to adequately provide and manage resources in this pandemic mean that health-care personnel are risking their lives daily by caring for COVID-19 patients without adequate personal protective equipment and other safety measures in their workplaces.7 As a result, thousands of health-care workers worldwide have contracted severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and have thus been perceived as public health hazards themselves.8 This situation has generated violence against them in some places, essentially for performing their professional duties. [...]this initiative must incorporate lessons learned from previous efforts to document violence against health-care personnel, such as attacks on those leading polio vaccination campaigns or who cared for patients with Ebola virus disease.10 Data on attacks specific to COVID-19 should be systematically gathered and included in the WHO Surveillance System of Attacks on Healthcare. [...]health professional associations, societies, and organisations from all specialties and disciplines should unite in speaking out forcefully against all acts of discrimination, intimidation, and violence against health-care workers.15 They must immediately condemn violence when it occurs and participate in initiatives aimed at responding to and eliminating violence.