A just peace can never be indifferent to the preventable death of a 3-year-old from pneumonia or a woman in childbirth when these deaths are the result of a catastrophic disruption of civilian life by war. The central role of health workers during and after an armed conflict has always been a matter of debate. As a medical practitioner and a health worker who has been involved in providing medical relief in conflict zones at different stages of my career, what has always puzzled me is how little consideration is given to the health consequences both at the time when the war is being prosecuted and following the termination of armed conflict.
What is even more perplexing is the absence of an effective lobby that can influence the policymakers effectively to prioritize the healthcare dimension when planning an armed conflict. There is a need to find ways to delimit the indirect effects in…
