Vol. 62 No. 3 (2025): REHABILITÁCIA
Wars have always brought immense horror and suffering, especially for civilians, and unfortunately they continue today. Paradoxically, while driving the development of combat technologies, wars have also indirectly advanced medicine – including surgery, anaesthesiology, nursing, and rehabilitation – with major progress following conflicts such as the Crimean War and the two World Wars. Humanitarian initiatives, notably the Red Cross founded in 1863 after the Battle of Solferino, emerged to relieve the suffering of soldiers and civilians alike.
From a medical standpoint, rehabilitation medicine plays a crucial role in addressing war-related injuries and disabilities, both acute and chronic, affecting soldiers and civilians of all ages. Today, the suffering of the population in Gaza underscores the urgent need for comprehensive medical, psychosocial, educational, and occupational support. Rehabilitation must extend beyond the body to include psychological recovery and the rebuilding of destroyed social structures.
This issue is actively discussed within professional organisations such as UEMS PRM, ESPRM, and the newly formed UniPRM, which emphasise international cooperation in education and adherence to ethical and humanitarian principles. These principles were reaffirmed in a July 2025 UN statement by Professor Gutenbrunner, President of Rehabilitation International, reporting over 2000 spinal and brain injuries, more than 4000 amputations (with 70% of the injured being women and children), and the tragic loss of over 1000 healthcare workers, including 39 physiotherapists. By January 2024 alone, over 1000 children had undergone amputations – averaging 10 per day.
Meanwhile, global media show heartbreaking images of people – often children – begging for food, many shot while struggling to obtain the most basic necessities. Despite severe restrictions on humanitarian aid to Palestine, international organisations and individuals continue to respond to this catastrophe, which is further compounded by famine.
Even in such complex circumstances, it is our responsibility – as individuals and as specialised healthcare providers, particularly in rehabilitation – to seek ways to help, just as we do in other war conflicts. Gaza’s civilians face ruined homes, lack of food and water, displacement, and destruction of medical infrastructure. Most hospitals have been obliterated by advanced military technologies, leaving the population without essential treatment and rehabilitation.
We must live with purpose, finding urgent ways to support those most afflicted, and use the very advances born of war to mitigate its atrocities.
Karol Hornáček
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