Conflict and health: Public health and humanitarian interventions: developing the evidence base

doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7253.101

BMJ 2000;321:101-105 ( 8 July )

Education and debate

Conflict and health

Public health and humanitarian interventions: developing the evidence base

This is the first of four articles

Nicholas Banatvala, honorary medical adviser ^a, Anthony B Zwi, head ^b.

^a Medical Emergency Relief International (MERLIN), London W1M 1HW, ^b Health Policy Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT

Correspondence to: N Banatvala, Department of Public Health, Suffolk Health, PO Box 55, Ipswich IP3 8NN banatvala@hq.suffolk-ha.anglox.nhs.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Worldwide, millions of people are annually affected by conflict and over $2bn was spent on non-food emergency aid each yearbetween 1991 and 1997.¹ Recently, 30 million people were estimatedto be internally displaced and 23 million to be refugees (seekingrefuge across international borders), the vast majority of whomwere fleeing conflict zones.² More agencies than ever are workingin relief activities; over 200 humanitarian agencies respondedto the Rwandan genocide and population displacement.³

Populations affected by armed conflict experience severe public health consequences as a result of food insecurity, populationdisplacement, the effects of weapons, and the collapse of basichealth services. ⁴ ⁵ Though most conflicts after the secondworld war took place in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and LatinAmerica, since the end of the Cold War and break up of the SovietUnion we have also witnessed conflicts in Europe and the formerSoviet Union, notably in Tajikistan, Chechnya, former . . . [Full text of this article]

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