Health

Citation:

Wessells, Michael G. 2006. Child Soldiers: From Violence to Protection. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Author: Michael G. Wessells

Abstract:

Examines the plight of child soldiers who are used by government forces and other military groups around the world as combatants, spies, porters, human land-mine detectors, and sexual slaves; analyzes the lives of these boys and girls within armed groups; discusses the impacts of these experiences on their lives; and considers the issues of reintegration into normal society, and how to prevent the problem. (WorldCat)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Child Soldiers, DDR, Gender, Girls, Boys, Health, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Sexual Violence, Sexual Slavery

Year: 2006

Citation:

Bashford, Alison. 2006. Medicine at the Border: Disease, Globalization and Security, 1850 to the Present. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Author: Alison Bashford

Abstract:

Medicine at the Border explores the pressing issues of border control and infectious disease in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The book places world health in world history, microbes and their management in globalization, and disease in the history of international relations, bringing together leading scholars on the history and politics of global health. The authors show how infectious disease has been central to the political, legal and commercial history of nationalism, colonialism and internationalism over the modern period. (Amazon)

Topics: Globalization, Health, Nationalism, Security

Year: 2006

Citation:

Punamäki, Raija-Leena. 1990. “Relationships between Political Violence and Psychological Responses among Palestinian Women.” Journal of Peace Research 27 (1): 75–85.

Author: Raija-Leena Punamäki

Abstract:

The article discusses the impact of political violence and personal factors on psychological stress responses. The sample consists of three groups of Palestinian women: (1) a West Bank/Gaza group of 174 women from the Israeli-occupied areas; (2) a Beirut group of 30 women from the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila; and (3) a comparison group of 35 Palestinian women living in Israel proper who were not exposed to direct political violence. As the determinants of psychological stress responses, worries, appraisal of availability of resources to cope (helplessness-controllability), coping modes and mental health problems were assessed. The hypothesized determinants of the stress process are place of residence, personal exposure to political hardships, economic stand and the age of the woman. The results showed significant differences between the three groups in their stress responses. The women of the Beirut group were the most traumatized, but psychologically this was reflected only in their showing more helplessness and lack of control in their personal lives than the women of the other Palestinian groups. The Beirut group expressed the lowest and the comparison group the highest level of political and personal worries. Furthermore, the Beirut group suffered less from mental health problems than the West Bank/Gaza group. These results accord with observations that in war and conflict situations, mental health problems tend to be more common in threatened areas, where fighting is expected to occur, than in the actual fighting areas. They also refer to people's general tendency to delay or modify their psychological symptoms in an extremely painful situation. In the West Bank/Gaza group, exposure to political hardships was related to a low level of passive and to a high level of socially-politically active coping modes. Yet, exposure to political hardships also increased mental health problems, which is a reminder of the price which people are forced to pay in order to cope with political violence.

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Health, Mental Health, Violence Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 1990

Citation:

Tarantola, Daniel. 2008. “A Perspective on the History of Health and Human Rights: From the Cold War to the Gold War.” Journal of Public Health Policy 29 (1): 42-53.

Author: Daniel Tarantola

Abstract:

Through the end of the Cold War, public health policies were predominantly shaped and implemented by governments and these same governments committed themselves to meet their obligations for health under international and national laws. The post-Cold War era has witnessed the entry of new actors in public health and the sharing of power and influences with non-state actors, in particular the private sector and interest groups. This article examines the emergence of human rights and the rise of health on the international development agenda as the Cold War was ending. It highlights the convergence of health and human rights in academic and public discourse since the end of the Cold War in a context of political and economic shifts linked to the ongoing economic globalization. It describes opportunities and challenges for greater synergy between health and rights and proposes a role for health practitioners.

Topics: Development, Economies, Globalization, Health, International Organizations, Political Economies, Rights, Human Rights

Year: 2008

Citation:

McGinn, Therese. 2000. “Reproductive Health of War-Affected Populations: What Do We Know?” International Family Planning Perspectives 26 (4): 174–80. doi:10.2307/2648255.

Author: Therese McGinn

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Health, Reproductive Health, Post-Conflict

Year: 2000

Citation:

Sundquist, Jan, Alija Behmen-Vincevic, and Sven-Erik Johansson. 1998. “Poor Quality of Life and Health in Young to Middle Aged Bosnian Female War Refugees: A Population-Based Study.” Public Health 112 (1): 21–26. doi:10.1038/sj.ph.1900411.

Authors: Jan Sundquist, Alija Behmen-Vincevic, Sven-Erik Johansson

Abstract:

Objective: To evaluate whether female Bosnian refugees have a poorer quality of life than Swedish women.

Design: A cross-sectional study of quality of life using a slightly modified ‘Göteborg Quality of Life’ instrument. The women rated their global well-being (19 items) on a 7-degree scale ranging from ‘very bad’ (1) ‘to excellent, could not be better’. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of 29 yes/no items about somatic and psychological symptoms which should take less than 5 min to complete. Factor analysis was performed in order to reduce the number of variables. Differences between mean ranks were tested by the Kruskal–Wallis test. Differences in distributions of the yes/no-questions in the different groups were tested with a likelihood ratio χ2 test.

Setting: Malmö and Lund, two cities in Southern Sweden.

Subjects: A simple random sample of 120 women aged 18–59, born in Bosnia-Hercegovina with accepted refugee status, and registered in Lund and Malmö, was interviewed. The control group for this was 292 Swedish women of the same age, registered in Dalby (Lund). The response rate for Bosnian women was 74% and for Swedish women 75%.

Main outcome measures: The factor analysis resulted in one factor, ‘global health’, to which all the well-being variables were related.

Results: 38% of the Bosnian and 23% of the Swedes had bad global health. Bosnian women with bad global health had lower mean rankings than Swedish women, namely low quality of life in ‘appetite’, ‘memory’, ‘leisure time’, and aspects of mental well-being such as ‘energy’, ‘patience’, ‘sleep’, ‘mood’, and ‘health’. They also had larger proportions of symptoms than Swedish women.

Conclusions: Bosnian women irrespective of health status had a poorer quality of life in most variables and more symptoms than Swedish women with good global health.

Keywords: Bosnian refugees, quality of life, cross-sectional study, female health

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Health, Mental Health, Post-Conflict Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Sweden

Year: 1998

Citation:

Ewig, Christina. 1999. “The Strengths and Limits of the NGO Women’s Movement Model: Shaping Nicaragua’s Democratic Institutions.” Latin American Research Review 34 (3): 75–102.

Author: Christina Ewig

Abstract:

This article examines the political interactions in Nicaragua between the NGO-based feminist movement and government institutions on the issue of women's health in the mid-1990s. Analysis of the Nicaraguan feminist movement yields insight into the ability of NGO-based movements to influence state policy and into the strengths and limits of using NGOs as an institutional base on which to build a social movement. By defining the mechanisms of state-NGO interactions and analyzing the democratic potential of an NGO-based social movement, this article contributes to understanding of both NGOs and social movements in the context of newly democratic governments.

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Governance, Health, NGOs, Political Participation Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: Nicaragua

Year: 1999

Citation:

Girard, Francoise, and Wilhelmina Waldman. 2000. “Ensuring the Reproductive Rights of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: Legal and Policy Issues.” International Family Planning Perspectives 26 (4): 167–73. doi:10.2307/2648254.

Authors: Francoise Girard, Wilhelmina Waldman

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Refugees, Gender, Health, Reproductive Health

Year: 2000

Citation:

Karkee, Rajendra, and DB Shrestha. 2006. “HIV and Conflict in Nepal: Relation and Strategy for Response.” Kathmandu University Medical Journal 4 (3): 363–67.

Authors: Rajendra Karkee, DB Shrestha

Abstract:

Conflict and displacement make affected population more vulnerable to HIV infection. Refugees and internally displaced persons, in particular women and children, are at increased risk of exposure to HIV. In Nepal, there is considerable increase in the number of HIV infection since 1996 when conflict started. Along with poverty, stigma and lack of awareness, conflict related displacement, economic migration, and closure of HIV programmes have exacerbated the HIV situation in Nepal. Government has established “National AIDS Council” and launched HIV/AIDS Strategy. The strategy has not included the specific needs of displaced persons. While launching an HIV prevention programme in the conflict situation, the guidelines developed by Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASS) are important tools. This led to suggestion of an approach with implementations steps in the case of Nepal in this report.

Keywords: HIV, conflict, Nepal, Response

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, Migration, IDPs, Refugees, Economies, Poverty, Gender, Women, Girls, Boys, Governance, Health, HIV/AIDS Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Nepal

Year: 2006

Citation:

Amowitz, Lynn L., Glen Kim, Chen Reis, Jana L. Asher, and Vincent Iacopino. 2004. “Human Rights Abuses and Concerns about Women’s Health and Human Rights in Southern Iraq.” The Journal of the American Medical Association 291 (12): 1471–79.

Authors: Lynn L. Amowitz, Glen Kim, Chen Reis, Jana L. Asher, Vincent Iacopino

Abstract:

The people of Iraq have endured 35 years of repression and widespread human rights violations under the Baath regime of Saddam Hussein. After the 1991 Gulf War, the regime suppressed popular uprisings among 14 of 18 governorates, including major insurrections in the predominantly Kurdish North and mostly Shi’a South. Thousands of Iraqis have reportedly disappeared, but the full scope of these atrocities, especially those perpetrated against the Shi’a after their 1991 uprising against the Baath regime, is unknown. More than 150 mass graves have been discovered recently throughout Iraq, some of which may contain victims of the 1991 Baath regime repression of this Shi’a uprising. 

The purpose of this study was to assess the nature and scope of human rights abuses in southern Iraq since the Shi’a uprising in 1991. More specifically, the study was designed to identify specific human rights abuses and perpetrators, to determine health and human rights concerns with a focus on women’s rights, and to examine Iraqi views on women’s rights and roles in society and provisions for community health and development.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Development, Ethnicity, Gender, Women, Health, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Iraq

Year: 2004