War/Militarism
War is inextricably linked to health, and yet it is very infrequently considered as a public health issue. Not only does war kill, mame, and traumatize, but it also has ecological and environmental impacts that themselves negate health. It is incongruous with the mission of public health to support war, and yet public health remains silent in war’s midst. Here we highlight the impacts of war on health, and frame war as a global health issue.
February 7, 2025
An Abyss of Suffering: The Daily Account of a Goma Resident Amid the M23 Invasion
On the morning of January 25, the Rwanda-backed militia group March 23 Movement (M23) invaded Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) largest city. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that at least 3,000 people have been killed since M23 rebels seized Goma, with estimates of 2,880 injured and up…
January 28, 2025
From Conflict Minerals to Global Responsibility: Why Congo’s Crisis Matters to Us All
The long-standing humanitarian crisis and conflict in eastern Congo is a personal one for me. As a refugee from Goma, eastern Congo, I lost family members to this conflict. I am writing this piece to shed light on the worsening situation in the region, both as a Global Health Master of Public Health student and…
November 20, 2024
Poem: My morning cup of coffee
In the quiet early hours of the day I pour myself a cup of coffee And through my bleary swollen eyes I catch up to what has unfurled In the world as I have slept I see images of crumbling buildings in war torn zones And children with missing limbs I…
October 19, 2024
Sudan’s Forgotten War
Ezzeldin Saleh and colleagues, in the October 2024 Lancet, draw attention to the horrific and unprecedented conflict in Sudan that has caused immense suffering for the Sudanese people since April 2023. Nearly 11 million people have been internally displaced, and 2.3 million have sought refugee status in neighboring countries. The economy has collapsed, and famine…
July 10, 2024
Crisis in Sudan: Urgent Call for De-Escalation in El Fasher
El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, is at the epicenter of escalating conflicts in Sudan, now a battleground between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). With over a million civilians, many displaced and on the verge of starvation, the situation in El Fasher demands immediate global attention. This violence stems…
February 10, 2024
Defunding UNWRA in Gaza is ‘collective punishment’ – Lancet & Health Justice Organizations
Health and political leaders globally have condemned defunding of UNRWA, the principle lifeline for the people of Gaza. Sharmila Devi, in the current issue of Lancet, quotes UN leaders and aid agency leaders (including WHO) “no other entity has the capacity to deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2·2 million people in Gaza…
January 27, 2024
Wars are never necessary: Gaza is the best example
This short Lancet piece by Souza, Buss, and Alcazar notes that since the Gaza war began in October 2023, “nothing has been resolved and all impasses remain. The costs of lives lost and survivors’ lives destroyed forever are immense. The billions of dollars spent on killing so far could have saved lives, fed and immunised…
October 13, 2023
Afghan hunger striker spotlights US-Taliban dirty deal
On September 1, 2023 Tamana Paryani began a hunger strike in Cologne, Germany for the rights of Afghan women. She is demanding that the United Nations and the German government declare the Taliban government is misogynist and practices gender apartheid. Ms. Paryani, a women’s rights defender, was arrested by the Taliban and suffered 26 days…
July 14, 2023
International Double Standards in Humanity: The War in Sudan
The accumulating tension over power between the two main military factions in Sudan, finally erupted as literal hell on earth in the early morning of April 15th, 2023, traumatizing the entire nation and sending thousands fleeing the capital city of Khartoum and the country1. Intense and violent clashes took place in cities across the country,…
June 15, 2023
Global attacks on hospitals, health workers – Sudan, Ukraine, Burma
Democracy Now! presents a special show (15 June 2023) on targeted health care attacks worldwide, and ‘The New Cold War,’ including interviews with Khidir Dalouk of the Sudanese-American Physicians Association and Christina Wille, Director of Insecurity Insight, and Dr. Dalouk describes the calamity in Sudan, where “fighting between rival military factions in Sudan targeting medical…
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