War and Public Health
We work in post-conflict areas, and witness the devastation that war and armed conflict have on health systems, and the health of communities. In addition to helping governments rebuild health systems, from hospitals to health workforce, we also recognize the need to highlight the harmful effects of war on health and develop better ways of responding to -- or better yet, preventing -- conflict situations.
War causes injury and death directly; by some estimates, armed conflict resulted in 1 million to 1.5 million deaths per year in the 20th century. To put this in context, it represents fewer annual deaths than those from AIDS (about 2 million in 2007) or tuberculosis (about 1.8 million in 2008), but more deaths than caused by malaria (less than 1 million in 2006).
Armed conflict also destroys hospitals, water and sanitation systems, and drives health workers away. Countries emerging from conflict are often faced with rebuilding an entire health system, with few resources yet at a time of great need.
We support efforts to document and illustrate the impact of war on health. We also look for ways to contribute to the body of knowledge about rebuilding health systems after conflict.