Bogotá D.C, November 21, 2022. Before talking about the Medical Mission, we must understand what it is and what it represents for a country that requires health services in areas with complex contexts of violence.

The first thing to specify is that International Humanitarian Law (IHL) incorporated the concept of protection of the right to health and healthcare in the Additional Protocols (1977) to the Geneva Conventions (1949).

In the case of Colombia, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection issued Resolution 4481 of December 28, 2012, defining the Medical Mission as a set of goods, facilities, institutions, transportation, equipment, and materials necessary to carry out the activities of health service provision, such as health care, preventive health, health education, pre-hospital, hospital and outpatient care, among others.

The Medical Mission is made up of professional health personnel, including other disciplines, with labor or civil ties, who perform health activities, based on a humanitarian mission in situations or zones of armed conflict or other situations of violence which affect public safety, natural disasters, and other calamities.

Now, it is important that the public and private sectors, and society in general, understand the value of respecting and protecting the Medical Mission for the territories, since it is the way in which health services are provided in a timely, effective, and relevant manner.

This is raised by Benjamín Moreno, head of the Office of Territorial Management of Emergencies and Disasters of the Ministry of Health, pointing out that in 25 years in the country, 2,701 events have been reported against the Medical Mission.

Moreno urged all actors in society to guarantee the work of the Medical Mission, with specific promotion and protection actions, since the action of the Medical Mission allows, among others, to guarantee medical care for the wounded and sick in difficult contexts, which in most cases require urgent attention to safeguard the fundamental right to life.

Thus, it is stated that violence against the wounded and sick, health personnel, structures and medical transport are a humanitarian problem faced by the countries of the region; therefore, ensuring their respect and protection is a priority to guarantee access to health care.

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Colombia, with the support of the Colombian Red Cross, the Norwegian Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), will develop the II Seminar on Humanitarian Consequences of the Lack of Respect and Protection of Health Services, which will take place from November 23 to 25 in Bogotá and will include the participation of some Ministries of Health, ICRC delegations and National Red Cross societies of the region; the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and other public and private institutions that have joined this important initiative, to demonstrate that the Medical Mission exists and guarantees the fundamental rights to health and life in any context.