“One of the first victims of war is the healthcare system itself,” Marco Balden, ICRC Chief War Surgeon
It has been more than 150 years since Henry Dunant saw the devastation of the battle at Solferino and broke his business trip to join other volunteers in attending to the injured. Appalled by the lack of arrangements to care for the wounded in conflict, he later wrote with two suggestions: the establishment of relief societies and an international treaty as the basis for the relief of the wounded. These events led to the establishment of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as well as the birth of Geneva law. This area of law, at the heart of modern International Humanitarian Law (IHL), was created to protect, respect and care for the sick and wounded during conflict, and the healthcare workers and facilities providing care.
