 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Barry S. Levy, MD, MPH, Adjunct Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine, P. O. Box 1230, Sherborn, MA 01770, 508-650-1039, blevy@igc.org and Victor W. Sidel, MD, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, New York, NY 10467.
War, preparation for war, and other military operations cause and perpetuate social injustices, which have major adverse impacts on the public's health. Most regions of the world continue to experience wars and civil wars in which more than 90 percent of deaths are of civilians, mainly women and children. Increasingly, military strategy is aimed at killing or injuring civilians and destroying the infrastructure of society, including food and water supply systems, electrical grids, medical care and public health services, and transportation and communication links that are necessary to maintain the public's health. War has led to most of the 50 million refugees and internally displaced persons in the world. In addition, war and military operations account for serious damage to the environment and for vast use of non-renewable fuels and other resources. The presenters, co-editors of War and Public Health (Oxford University Press, 1997; updated paperbound edition, APHA, 2000) and of Terrorism and Public Health (Oxford University Press in cooperation with APHA, 2003) will present epidemiologic and other data to document these forms of social injustice, discuss policy implications, and present ways in which public health workers and activists can effectively address these problems.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: War, Social Justice
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.