Rebuilding health post-conflict: case studies, reflections and a revised framework

Defending the right to health in Gaza: a call to action by health workers

The ongoing conflict in Gaza has led to severe destruction of the health system and eventually its collapse. Moreover, multiple attacks on health workers were reported which led to obstacles in service delivery. The conflict has led to further humanitarian crises including shortage of food, water sanitation, and hygiene, and outbreaks of infectious diseases. About 2 million of Gaza's population are internally displaced with the majority in Rafah. Rafah's population has increased by 500% in less than four months. This has led to acute food severity in Gaza for the whole of the population. Moreover, the cut of UNRWA aid is expected to further expand the humanitarian crisis as over 2 million of the population depends on the aid.

Predictors and health outcomes of cigarette and shisha smoking among men in Gaza: a cross-sectional study

Tobacco smoking, a significant public health concern globally, is associated with a rise in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and preventable deaths, with pronounced impacts in conflict zones like Gaza. A cross-sectional study, conducted in 2020, in Gaza focused on individuals over 40 years of age, aiming to identify predictors of tobacco use and its links to diseases like coronary artery disease (CAD), chronic lung disease (CLD), and stroke using regression analysis. The research, based on the Gaza NCD study data with 4576 participants and a 96.6% response rate, found an overall tobacco smoking prevalence of 19.4%, with higher rates among men. After adjusting for various factors, the study identified significant associations between cigarette smoking in men and adverse health outcomes, such as CAD and CLD, with adjusted odds ratios (OR) of 1.67, 95% CI (1.22-2.29) and 1.68, 95% CI (1.21-2.33) respectively. However, after adjusting for independent variables, shisha smoking in men showed no association with these health outcomes. The findings of this study could assist other researchers in designing interventions aimed at reducing smoking prevalence by utilizing the associated factors identified in our analysis, such as age, education level, physical activity, and body mass index among men in Gaza.

Hunger in the shadow of conflict: analyzing malnutrition and humanitarian challenges in Sudan

BACKGROUND

Conflict has become a global reality, particularly impacting millions of children, with the majority of conflicts occurring in developing nations, where 90% of the world's children reside. The Horn of Africa, especially Sudan, has faced severe conflicts, with the year 2023 witnessing one of the toughest conflicts in the region, resulting in a high number of internally displaced persons and refugees. Children, especially in areas like Darfur, Khartoum, Gezira, and Kordofan, bear the brunt of ongoing large-scale conflicts, facing widespread human rights violations and resource damage. Before the conflict that began in April 2023, Khartoum was home to numerous children's hospitals, but now only Elbuluk Hospital remains operational, facing a surge in admissions due to displacement and subsequent returns of civilians seeking medical care. Although malnutrition cases have increased, the case fatality rate associated with severe acute malnutrition has doubled from approximately 6% to 12% by March 2024, possibly due to uneven food distribution amid sporadic peace efforts.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Investing in grassroots organizations is crucial for facilitating effective humanitarian aid delivery, as they are uniquely positioned to identify and address local needs promptly and efficiently. Strengthening these organizations enhances their capacity to coordinate aid distribution and provide essential services tailored to regional conditions. Persistent violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in conflict zones impede humanitarian efforts. Robust collaboration between international and local stakeholders is necessary to uphold and enforce IHL, with a focus on protecting civilian lives and ensuring safe, unhindered access for humanitarian aid while respecting the dignity of all affected individuals.

Health system strengthening in fragile and conflict-affected states: A review of systematic reviews

BACKGROUND

Globally, there is growing attention towards health system strengthening, and the importance of quality in health systems. However, fragile and conflict-affected states present particular challenges. The aim of this study was to explore health system strengthening in fragile and conflict-affected states by synthesising the evidence from published literature.

METHODS

We conducted a review of systematic reviews (Prospero Registration Number: CRD42022371955) by searching Ovid (Medline, Embase, and Global Health), Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases. Only English-language publications were considered. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tool was employed to assess methodological quality of the included studies. The findings were narratively synthesised and presented in line with the Lancet's 'high-quality health system framework'.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven systematic reviews, out of 2,704 identified records, considered key dimensions of health systems in fragile and conflict-affected states, with the 'foundations' domain having most evidence. Significant challenges to health system strengthening, including the flight of human capital due to safety concerns and difficult working conditions, as well as limited training capacities and resources, were identified. Facilitators included community involvement, support systems and innovative financing mechanisms. The importance of coordinated and integrated responses tailored to the context and stage of the crisis situation was emphasised in order to strengthen fragile health systems. Overall, health system strengthening initiatives included policies encouraging the return and integration of displaced healthcare workers, building local healthcare workers capacity, strengthening education and training, integrating healthcare services, trust-building, supportive supervision, and e-Health utilisation.

CONCLUSION

The emerging body of evidence on health system strengthening in fragile and conflict-affected states highlights its complexity. The findings underscore the significance of adopting a comprehensive approach and engaging various stakeholders in a coordinated manner considering the stage and context of the situation.

Leaving no one behind in armed conflict-affected settings of Africa: is universal health coverage a possibility or mirage?

The world is off track six years to the 2030 deadline for attaining the sustainable development goals and universal health coverage. This is particularly evident in Africa's armed conflict-affected and humanitarian settings, where pervasively weak health systems, extreme poverty and inequitable access to the social dimensions and other determinants of health continue to pose significant challenges to universal health coverage. In this article, we review the key issues and main barriers to universal health coverage in such settings. While our review shows that the current health service delivery and financing models in Africa's armed conflict-affected settings provide some opportunities to leapfrog progress, others are threats which could hinder the attainment of universal health coverage. We propose four key approaches focused on addressing the barriers to the three pillars of universal health coverage, strengthening public disaster risk management, bridging the humanitarian-development divide, and using health as an enabler of peace and sustainable development as panacea to addressing the universal health coverage challenge in these settings. The principles of health system strengthening, primary health care, equity, the right to health, and gender mainstreaming should underscore the implementation of these approaches. Moving forward, we call for more advocacy, dialogue, and research to better define and adapt these approaches into a realistic package of interventions for attaining universal health coverage in Africa's armed conflict-affected settings.

Health systems resilience in practice: a scoping review to identify strategies for building resilience

Background

Research on health systems resilience has focused primarily on the theoretical development of the concept and its dimensions. There is an identified knowledge gap in the research on how to build resilience in health systems in practice and ‘what works’ in different contexts. The aim of this study is to identify practical strategies for building resilient health systems from the empirical research on health systems resilience.

Methods

A scoping review included empirical research on health systems resilience from peer-reviewed literature. The search in the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, Global Health was conducted during January to March 2021 for articles published in English between 2013 to February 2021. A total of 1771 articles were screened, and data was extracted from 22 articles. The articles included empirical, applied research on strategies for resilience, that observed or measured resilience during shocks or chronic stress through collection of primary data or analysis of secondary data, or if they were a review study of empirical research. A narrative summary was done by identifying action-oriented strategies, comparing them, and presenting them by main thematic areas.

Results

The results demonstrate examples of strategies used or recommended within nine identified thematic areas; use of community resources, governance and financing, leadership, surveillance, human resources, communication and collaboration, preparedness, organizational capacity and learning and finally health system strengthening.

Conclusions

The findings emphasize the importance of improved governance and financing, empowered middle-level leadership, improved surveillance systems and strengthened human resources. A re-emphasized focus on health systems strengthening with better mainstreaming of health security and international health regulations are demonstrated in the results as a crucial strategy for building resilience. A lack of strategies for recovery and lessons learnt from crises are identified as gaps for resilience in future.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-08544-8.

The role of community health worker-based care in post-conflict settings: a systematic review

Countries affected by conflict often experience the deterioration of health system infrastructure and weaken service delivery. Evidence suggests that healthcare services that leverage local community dynamics may ameliorate health system-related challenges; however, little is known about implementing these interventions in contexts where formal delivery of care is hampered subsequent to conflict. We reviewed the evidence on community health worker (CHW)-delivered healthcare in conflict-affected settings and synthesized reported information on the effectiveness of interventions and characteristics of care delivery. We conducted a systematic review of studies in OVID MedLine, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINHAL) and Google Scholar databases. Included studies (1) described a context that is post-conflict, conflict-affected or impacted by war or crisis; (2) examined the delivery of healthcare by CHWs in the community; (3) reported a specific outcome connected to CHWs or community-based healthcare; (4) were available in English, Spanish or French and (5) were published between 1 January 2000 and 6 May 2021. We identified 1976 articles, of which 55 met the inclusion criteria. Nineteen countries were represented, and five categories of disease were assessed. Evidence suggests that CHW interventions not only may be effective but also efficient in circumventing the barriers associated with access to care in conflict-affected areas. CHWs may leverage their physical proximity and social connection to the community they serve to improve care by facilitating access to care, strengthening disease detection and improving adherence to care. Specifically, case management (e.g. integrated community case management) was documented to be effective in improving a wide range of health outcomes and should be considered as a strategy to reduce barrier to access in hard-to-reach areas. Furthermore, task-sharing strategies have been emphasized as a common mechanism for incorporating CHWs into health systems.