Medicine, Conflict and Survival最新文献

Violence against heath care workers in Iraq has reached an 'epidemic' level. It affects health care providers, receivers of care and the health system as a whole. This study aims to explore the reasons and impact of violence against junior doctors in Baghdad city. A sample of 223 junior doctors from 12 General and Teaching hospitals in Baghdad/Iraq were included in this survey. A semi-structured questionnaire was adopted that enquires about demographic and work characteristics, and details of workplace violent attacks. The results showed that 82% of the participants were either exposed to or witnessed workplace violence. The highest prevalence was among young newly graduated house officers. The source was mostly the patients' companions/relatives, and mainly attributed to work overload and lack of medicines/supplies. A significant positive association was found between exposure to WPV and all domains of burnout score. High emotional exhaustion was found in 79.1% of those exposed to WPV in comparison to 35.1% of those not exposed (p < 0.001). In addition, 39.1% of the participants met the criteria for potential risk of PTSD, while 11.2% showed the symptoms of a full PTSD diagnosis. Urgent practical interventions need to be undertaken by all those with influence and responsibility to control and reduce this behaviour.

Academic publications on human rights violations in Gaza surged after Israel's large-scale destruction following Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack. We analysed the uncoordinated cooperative efforts documented in these works by reviewing publications addressing the health and humanitarian crises in Gaza between October 2023 and April 2024. We present a unified academic voice advocating for recognizing and restoring human rights for the people of Gaza. In the publications, we identified three key themes: 'expression', 'emotionality' and 'expectations'. Many academics openly express how they see Israel's actions in Gaza. In line with the International Court of Justice and the UN Special Rapporteur, they believe Gaza is facing 'apartheid', 'ethnic cleansing', or 'genocide' by Israel. This understanding further takes an emotional toll on academics, as most of them feel it 'painful' to process information and write about hunger, death, destruction and isolation in Gaza. Academics express disappointment in Western political powers that enable Israel's continuing human rights violations in Gaza. At the same time, they demand that political powers take immediate measures to ensure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and its rebuilding, as some view the UN as a 'soft' body as it is unable to enforce the ceasefire.

Background: The consequences of the war and siege in Tigray on pertussis cases have not been previously assessed.

Method: All children diagnosed with pertussis in Ayder Hospital two years before and during the war and siege of Tigray. Data were collected using ODK software and analysed with SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to assess the impact of the war and siege. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Data from a total of 144 children were analysed, most of whom (78.5%, 113/144) had been admitted during the war and siege period. Males accounted for 53.5% of the cases. Statistically significant differences were observed during the war and siege compared to pre-war time with age (p = 0.043), patient complications (p = 0.011), vaccination status (p = 0.015), nutritional status (p = 0.039), type of pertussis (p = 0.043), receipt of appropriate treatment (p = 0.000), and place of treatment (p = 0.011). Poor outcomes and treatment were more prevalent during the war than before.

Conclusion: Pertussis outbreaks during the war and siege in Tigray were associated with poorer outcomes across all age groups.

Through a scoping review, we aimed to assess the effectiveness and impact of health education programs on landmines, known as mine risk education programs, on reducing risk-taking behaviour and injuries. Mine risk education evaluative studies were identified by searching electronic databases and publication lists of relevant humanitarian organizations. The review identified nine relevant mine risk education evaluative studies representing eight countries. These studies used different quantitative and/or qualitative methods, focusing on change in knowledge, risk-taking behaviour, and/or injuries. Three studies compared mine risk education in targeted and non-targeted groups. The review showed that mine risk education increases awareness among beneficiary communities, but the effect on decreasing landmine injury is still unknown. Due to the limited availability of rigorous evaluative studies of mine risk education programs, there still needs to be solid evidence of their effectiveness. Better-designed and resourced studies are needed to assess their effect on risk-taking behaviour and injuries.