event
information & details
Conference
War & Global Health: Transforming Our Profession, Changing Our World
Date/Time
April 23 (Friday),
6pm- 9pm
Location
University of Washington
Sponsored by
PSR, UW Global Health Department
The purpose of this conference is to shift the perspective on global health to include war and armed conflict as one of the most significant—and preventable—threats to health around the world and provide tools for practitioners to act accordingly. The student-led conference will feature journalist Chris Hedges, author of War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, as keynote speaker and many other great plenary speakers and panelists.
full description & details:
Breakout sessions at the conference will be organized thematically into the following six tracks:
1. Combatants & military populations
2. Vulnerable populations
3. Policy, human rights & social justice
4. War, society & the environment
5. Health professionals as peace-workers
6. The role of media and information in war & global health
Health Consequences of War
Beyond military casualties and civilian “collateral damage,” war and conflict have a profound impact on health. War is responsible for more death and disability than many major diseases combined. It causes profound damage to families, communities, and societies. The destruction of health infrastructure, loss of health workers and contamination of the environment directly affect the health of populations, while the diversion of resources to building weapons and waging war depletes funds that could otherwise be spent on improving health. War leaves no area of health care or public health practice untouched: maternal and child health, reproductive health, mental health, environmental, nutrition, etc.
Role of Health Professionals in the Prevention of War
Medical and public health professionals are well-positioned to reduce the damage caused by armed conflict. There are powerful roles that practitioners, educators, and other workers in public health can play in preventing war itself, as well as mitigating the public health consequences of war. The World Health Assembly declared in 1981, “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.” War can and should be approached as a public health problem. One 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.
A Paradigm Shift
Those who have committed their careers to promoting the public’s health need to change their 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. Preventing war and its consequences should be part of any Global Health curriculum. Armed conflict, however, is still addressed indirectly or not at all in the standard curricula in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health.
Since World War II, physicians and 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. Increasingly, health professionals 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. This conference aims to provide a foundation for understanding war’s impact on health, but will also take the additional step to equip attendees with tools and skills so they can contribute to peace building as health professionals.
Specific goals of the conference:
1) To frame war prevention and reduction as a legitimate area of study and practice for those in the public health and medical fields.
2) To advance the understanding among medical and public health students and practitioners of the health consequences of war, and share information and tools on how these groups can contribute to peace building and mitigate the effects of conflict.
3) To develop new leaders in the medical and public health fields committed to war prevention and reduction.
Website for more info:
http://wrihc.org
Contact Person:
Noah Derman
Contact Email:
nderman@u.washington.edu
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