Peace building through health initiatives

doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7256.293

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Graeme MacQueen, associate professor, department of religious studies,
Joanna Santa-Barbara (joanna@web.net), assistant professor, department of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences

Centre for Peace Studies, McMaster University,1280 Main St West, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4K1

Correspondence to: J Santa Barbara

This is the last of four articles Edited by

War affects human health through the direct violence of bombs and bullets, the disruption of economic and social systems by which people use to address their health needs, the famine and epidemics that follow such disruptions, and the diversion of economic resources to military ends rather than health needs.1^–8 In recent years war has been framed as a public health problem.9 This highlights the role of health workers in preventing and mitigating destructiveness but also raises questions regarding the constraints to their achievement of such objectives.

Summary points

Health work in zones of conflict can initiate and spread peace through conflict management, solidarity with indigenous health workers, strengthening of the social fabric, public dissent and restriction of the destructiveness of war

Evaluation tools need refinement, but there is preliminary evidence of effectiveness for some health-peace initiatives

The health-peace connection

The transition towards peace in war-affected zones will often improve health care and health status of populations. But do health workers have a role in expanding peace? Progress towards more peaceful relationships, between large entities such as nations or blocs, or small entities like community groups, requires multitrack actions at several levels. Does health care offer one such track? Only empirical data will answer this question, but our preliminary analysis of information suggests that health initiatives have indeed been successfully used as peace initiatives.10^–12

This paper seeks to briefly elaborate on the linkage between health and peace in the hope that others will see useful applications of this linkage. We use the term “health-peace initiative” to refer to any initiative that is intended to improve the health of a population and to simultaneously heighten that population's level of peace and security.