War and Global Health Conference
‘The role of physicians and other health workers in the preservation and promotion of peace is the most significant factor for the attainment of health for all.'
-The World Health Assembly in 1981
For us, the connection between war and health is very clear. We work with governments in developing countries strengthening and in some cases rebuilding health system that have been destroyed following years of war and civil conflict.
When ministries of health have to rebuild health systems after conflict, they are faced with destroyed or looted and neglected health facilities, a depleted health workforce, disrupted sanitation systems, and ruined roads that make transporting supplies, patients and medications difficult. Almost EVERYTHING that happens during war - destruction of the environment, displacement of populations, mental and physical trauma, diversion of resources to pay for war - has a negative effect on health.
War is a critical issue that is undermining global health efforts around the world.
The War and Global Health Conference on April 23-25, 2010 on the UW campus marked a significant path towards pushing a new paradigm of global health to view war as preventable health problem.
The conference had an upward of 650 participants from Seattle, Oxford, the Congo and many places in between. The reason people came together was to discuss the brutalities of wars, wrestle with what Chris Hedge's calls the attraction to war, look at ways to measure both indirect and directs costs of war on health outcomes, understand the institutional systemic reasons for war, learn from our history of war, and frame our roles and responsibilities as professional health workers to prevent future wars.
War And Global Health | wrihc.org from eric becker on Vimeo.
Many organizations were represented at the conference including Veterans for Peace, Global Health Council, Physicians for Human Rights, PATH, Washington Global Health Alliance, Physicians for Social Responsibility as well as several different academic institutions.
We who have committed our careers to promoting the public's health need to change our framework to encompass war as one of the most significant-and preventable-threats to the health of people in every demographic group and in every country.
The presenters spoke about how health professionals:
- Have advocated against the harmful effects of nuclear weapons and other weapons systems, and have organized to provide humanitarian assistance in conflict situations.
- Have been speaking out against war as a major threat to health worldwide. Just as tobacco use and smoking moved from accepted practice to public health problem, war and conflict are beginning to be viewed not as inevitable, but as a health problem that requires intervention.
- Can design and implement interventions, monitor and evaluate outcomes. Strategies of prevention can be applied at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Different interventions can be conceived that are appropriate for pre-conflict and post-conflict environments as well as during the conflict itself.
- Need to incorporate prevention of war and its consequences into global health curriculum.
This conference provided a foundation for understanding war's impact on health and steps to promote peace building as health professionals.
As global health professionals it should be our duty to prevent war and mitigate its effects. We need to continue pushing ourselves and pushing others in global health - governments, foundations, universities, organizations - to recognize war as a significant threat to health, and respond accordingly.
Listen to Alfred McCoy's talk on war and torture.
Visit the WRIHC website for updates on video presentations from the conference.
Leave a Reply