The year 2025 has begun with a worrying outlook, with 42 health emergencies affecting 305 million people worldwide, the world health authority said.
The main causes of the crises include humanitarian disasters resulting from war, political instability, displacement, climate change and epidemics, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO).
These crises disrupt vital services such as vaccinations, hamper access to clean water and sanitation, exacerbate malnutrition and the spread of infections, impact mental health and often lead to attacks on health facilities.
The organization said 17 of the 42 health emergencies facing the world this year are “category three” crises – the most serious type.
Here’s a closer look at the most serious crises facing the world in 2025.
War in Ukraine
Ukraine’s health system has been battered since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
There have been more than 200 attacks on healthcare facilities, causing “significant damage and eroding hope,” WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the briefing.
The war in Ukraine is the only high-profile health emergency in Europe, with more than 12.7 million people in need of medical assistance, according to WHO estimates.
Israel’s Conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah
More than 46,600 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, when Israel began an air and ground offensive on Gaza, after the militant group Hamas killed about 1,200 people in attacks on a music festival and kibbutzim in southern Israel.
The war has decimated Gaza’s hospitals and, according to the WHO, more than 3 million people now need medical support in Gaza and the West Bank.
In Lebanon, some 1.2 million people were displaced by Israeli forces after the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired rockets and missiles into Israel in 2023.
While the two sides reached a ceasefire agreement in November, there are now only four functioning hospitals in areas affected by the conflict, the WHO said.
Aid workers there are struggling to ensure that basic services, including trauma care, remain available, while helping to rebuild the health system for returning Lebanese.
Civil War in Sudan
Sudan has faced 141 attacks on healthcare facilities since its civil war broke out in 2023, with 39% of medical facilities reportedly destroyed or out of service, according to the WHO.
In addition, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced this month that it would withdraw from a hospital after an attack on its emergency room.
Some 30.4 million people in Sudan are in need of urgent medical care, the WHO said.
In addition, more than 2.9 million people have fled Sudan, straining the health systems of neighboring countries, while refugee camps are facing outbreaks of cholera, malaria, measles and hepatitis E.
Consequences in Syria and Afghanistan
Syria’s health system was weakened long before the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in December, which paved the way for tens of thousands of refugees to return to the country.
More than 16.7 million Syrians needed health assistance last year, according to the WHO, and that number is likely to rise in 2025.
Meanwhile, an estimated 14.3 million people need health assistance in Afghanistan, where two decades of war and the Taliban’s tight grip since 2021 have left the health system “fragmented and severely under-resourced,” the WHO said.
Threats in Africa and Asia
In Myanmar, rising conflict between Buddhists and Muslims – combined with displacement, natural disasters, economic hardship and the risk of cholera outbreaks – is putting millions of people at risk, the WHO said.
In Yemen, more than 19.5 million people need medical care as a result of environmental crises and conflict. The country has been pushed towards famine, while vaccine-preventable diseases such as diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough) continue to spread.
An estimated 21.4 million people need health assistance in Ethiopia, where disasters such as drought, floods and landslides, as well as outbreaks of cholera and malaria and ongoing violence, pose major health threats.
