TEHRAN – Prominent Iranian and foreign scholars have called on global health communities to deploy their full capacity to protect health-care infrastructures and to foster the full restoration of the Pasteur Institute of Iran's essential laboratory and its diagnostic, surveillance, and vaccine capabilities, which were damaged during the US-Israeli strikes against the country’s scientific facilities.

“We urgently call on the international health communities to deploy their full capacity to protect health-care infrastructures and to foster the full restoration of the Pasteur Institute of Iran's essential laboratory and its diagnostic, surveillance, and vaccine capabilities. This is not solely a national issue; regional health security is also at risk,” they wrote in an article published in The Lancet - one of the most prestigious peer-reviewed publications among international general medical journals - on May 16.

The article’s authors, namely Mahmoud Reza Pourkarim, Mohammad Barzegar, Philippe Lemey, Simon Dellicour, and Marc Van Ranst, said: “The Pasteur Institute of Iran sustained considerable damage from a series of airstrikes in late March 2026.

This historically important medical institution, founded 106 years ago, has played a key role in combating various human pathogens in the region and has responded to numerous epidemics and pandemics in its history.

The Pasteur Institute of Iran houses reference laboratories, departments of vaccine research and production, pathogen surveillance, and outbreak response teams.

WHO confirmed that, following the damage caused by the airstrikes, the institute was no longer functional and could no longer deliver health services.

These attacks occurred after years of sanctions had already left Iran's public health system in a precarious condition.

In 2018, we raised concerns in The Lancet that US sanctions were jeopardising Iran's viral hepatitis elimination programme. This programme depends on locally developed and produced vaccines and essential imported medicines.

Amid the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Iran suffered multiple epidemic waves while sanctions constrained access to genomic surveillance facilities and other resources crucial to the Pasteur Institute's preparedness and response.

The current destruction poses a fundamentally new threat: not simply disruption, but the possible loss of a cornerstone public health institution.

The Pasteur Institute of Iran has been a pillar of the country's public health system for more than a century. This institute has provided key public health infrastructure on multiple fronts, including vaccine development and production, national reference laboratory services, diagnostics, and genomic surveillance for infectious diseases, including SARS-CoV-2, cholera, rabies, measles, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and viral hepatitis.

The loss of the institute is not merely symbolic; it represents a real, immediate, and dangerous threat to public health.

Reports from our Iranian collaborators indicate that, fortunately, none were physically harmed. However, crucial reference laboratories, including those for genomic surveillance, rabies, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, and vector-borne diseases, were completely lost.

Consequently, without these crucial facilities, seasonal and regional outbreaks might not receive timely and effective public health responses.

We urgently call on the international health communities to deploy their full capacity to protect health-care infrastructures and to foster the full restoration of the Pasteur Institute of Iran's essential laboratory and its diagnostic, surveillance, and vaccine capabilities. This is not solely a national issue; regional health security is also at risk.”

In April, four prominent Iranian scholars severely criticized what they described as ‘the systematic degradation of the Iranian healthcare system’ by military actions carried out by the United States and Israel against the country.

"The military campaign initiated on Feb 28, 2026, by the USA and Israel against Iran has rapidly evolved into a regional conflagration with catastrophic health consequences for Iran as well as for the region,” Iradj Sobhani, Ali Keshavarzian, Asghar Rastegar, and Mohsen Shahmanesh have said in an article in The Lancet.

The sheer ferocity and duration of the strikes have led to the violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the foreseeable collapse of civilian life-sustaining systems for Iranian citizens, they added.

Although the immediate human toll is staggering—at least 3636 people, including around 1700 civilians, had been killed as of April 7, 2026—the systematic degradation of the Iranian health-care system, which was already compromised under medical and economic sanctions, represents a profound violation of IHL and a long-term threat to population health.

As of March 27, 2026, data compiled from WHO, the Iranian Red Crescent, and national health agencies reveal a targeted erosion of medical neutrality. A total of 292 medical and relief centres, including hospitals, pharmacies, and primary health clinics, have been damaged or destroyed.

The assault on health care is not merely incidental but systemic. Under the Geneva Conventions and the UN Charter, medical personnel and facilities must be protected at all times unless used for military purposes. Yet, verified reports indicate US–Israeli attacks on health facilities and the killing of at least eight health-care workers, doctors, nurses, and emergency first responders in Iran.

The protection of civilians extends to those who try to help them, including medical staff, humanitarian and relief organizations that are providing essential goods such as food, clothing, and medical supplies. Parties to a conflict should not violate the law.

Medical units, hospitals, rehabilitation institutions, and humanitarian facilities enjoy special protection. Parties to a conflict are under a binding obligation to respect the fundamental principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution.

Four Geneva Conventions were later strengthened by Additional Protocol I of 1977, which requires the absolute distinction between civilians and combatants. But, as ever, civilians, particularly women, children, and displaced people, are suffering the brunt of war.

However, the United States and Israel forces have been launching violent attacks on Iran, targeting residential areas, and bombarding health, educational, and sports infrastructures.
 
Their violation of international humanitarian law has been confirmed and condemned by many individuals, media, and international organizations worldwide.