The emerging field of conflict epidemiology offers a more accurate method to measure deaths caused during violent conflicts or wars that can generate more reliable numbers than before to guide decision-makers. In February 2001 the

Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States presid ...

and the

United States Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individuals in diplomacy, mediation, and other pea ...

(USIP), in collaboration with CARE (relief),

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

and the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

(CDC), sponsored a meeting on "Violence and Health". The goals of the meeting were to determine the impact of violent conflict on

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

and to advise public health training programs on means to enhance the work of public health professionals in working in violent conflicts. Compiling or estimating the numbers of deaths caused during wars and other violent conflicts is a controversial subject. Historians often put forward many different estimates of the numbers killed during historic conflicts. What conflict epidemiology offers is a better methodology to more accurately estimate actual mortality rates during existing wars and conflict. As war is a leading cause of illness and death, there are those in the field of public health who argue "war epidemiology" should be a more prominent component of the field of public health.

Health Effects

Clarence C Tam et al. provide a conceptual framework for conflict epidemiology, listing the following public health effects stemming from conflicts.

Direct effects

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

* Injury *

Torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

Indirect effects

* Collapse of health infrastructure *

Environmental impact Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

, such as

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

* Loss of basic commodities, such as

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

and

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

* Chronic and acute

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues ...

* Effects on psychological health * Unexploded ordnance and

landmine A land mine is an explosive weapon, explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically d ...

s *

Infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...

(

waterborne diseases Waterborne diseases are conditions (meaning adverse effects on human health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders) caused by pathogenic micro-organisms that are transmitted in water. These diseases can be spread while bathing, washin ...

, contagious infections and

vector-borne disease In epidemiology, a disease vector is any living agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen to another living organism; agents regarded as vectors are organisms, such as parasites or microbes. The first major discovery of a disease ve ...

, STIs and sexual assault)

Modern Conflict

''Lancet'' survey of 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq

The subject of conflict epidemiology made headline news after a report of a survey was conducted that detailed changes in the mortality rate of several clusters of Iraqi civilians surveyed throughout the country from 2003-2006. Data were collected by local Iraqi doctors from May 2006 to July 2006 and analysed by the faculty of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. The results of this study indicated that the burden of warfare on the Iraqi people in the region doubled from May of 2006 to July of 2006, and an excess of 600,000 deaths were suggested to be attributed to the onset of the war. This trend was indicated to have followed for violent and non-violent deaths alike.

Russo-Ukrainian War (2014-present)

Escalations in tensions between Russia and Ukraine beginning in 2022 resulting in armed conflict have resulted in a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis from 2022 to the present. An unprecedented 82 attacks on civilian and humanitarian healthcare centers in the region have resulted in widespread communicable disease, displaced youth, and millions of refugees without access to consistent healthcare delivery. In addition to the health effects seen as a direct result of military in the region, Ukraine's ability to respond to the current conflict has suffered from an insufficient healthcare workforce prior to the escalation in military activity in 2022.

Challenges

Epidemiology of conflict suffers from a unique set of challenges that present clear barriers to our understandings of health outcomes in war torn areas. Areas experiencing high levels of armed conflict suffer from destroyed and fragmented health systems, making both health surveillance and procurement of necessary resources difficult. Furthermore, comprehensive access to affected parts of the population are often hindered, resulting in a lack of standardized data collection necessary to properly investigate health outcomes.