KARACHI: Armed conflicts are becoming increasingly complex and protracted and threaten to block access to essential health services, affecting at least 630 million women and children, or about 8% of the world’s population, according to a new series of four articles published by The Lancet on Sunday.
The series, led by academic researchers and partners affiliated with the BRANCH Consortium (Bridging Research & Action in Conflict Settings for the Health of Women & Children), analyzes existing evidence with new models and insights from a range of local research partners, humanitarian agencies and civil society organizations.
The series authors highlighted the failure of the global community to prioritize the health of women and children in conflict areas and called for an international commitment by humanitarian actors and donors to address political and security challenges, along with consensus on a framework for identify high priority interventions to reach the most vulnerable women and children with the best care possible.
“The new estimates provide convincing evidence of the enormous indirect tribute to modern warfare caused by easily preventable infectious diseases, malnutrition, sexual violence and poor mental health, as well as the destruction of basic services, such as water and medical facilities,” said Prof. Zulfiqar Bhutta of the Global Child Health Center, Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, and the Institute of Health and Global Development at Aga Khan University, who led the series.
According to a series of articles published by The Lancet, about a third of the affected people live in Pakistan, Nigeria and India
“Today, more than half of the world’s women and children live in countries that face active conflict. The international community cannot continue to ignore its situation. It is time to radically rethink the global response that faces the challenges of insecurity, access, policy, coordination and logistics of delivering high-priority interventions for women and children in politically unstable and unsafe environments ”, he added.
The articles in the series explore the changing nature of war and conflict, its short and long-term effects on the health of women and children, strategies to identify the best responses and interventions supported by assessments and studies in the country.
Indirect effects of war
New estimates suggest that the number of women and children affected by armed conflict worldwide has steadily increased since 2000, as a result of population growth, more conflicts, increasing use of conventional and chemical weapons in urban areas and an increasing number of refugees and displaced persons internal.
In 2017, one in 10 (10 percent) women and almost one in six (16%) children worldwide were forcibly displaced by the conflict or lived dangerously close (within 50 km) to conflict zones. About a third of the affected people lived in Pakistan, Nigeria and India.
Evidence suggests that the risk of dying from non-violent causes increases substantially with the proximity of more intense and chronic conflicts, with women of reproductive age in Africa living close to high-intensity fighting three times more likely to die than women in peaceful areas. , and the risk of death among babies is greater than 25%.
It is estimated that between 6.7 million and 7.5 million babies and more than 10 million children under the age of five, born in a period of 50 kilometers of armed conflict, died due to the indirect consequences of the fighting in Africa, Asia and Americas between 1995 and 2015.
“It is clear that the indirect effects of armed conflict on women and children are much greater than the effects of real fighting,” said co-author Dr. Halla Gattas, of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
Published Dawn, January 25, 2021