Health research in humanitarian crises: an urgent global imperative

Globally, humanitarian crises—such as armed conflict, forced displacement, natural disasters and major disease outbreaks—affect more people today than at any point in recorded history. These crises have immense acute and long-term health impacts on hundreds of millions of people, predominantly in lo...

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Main Authors: Brandon A Kohrt, Amit S Mistry, Nalini Anand, Blythe Beecroft, Iman Nuwayhid
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2019-12-01
Series:BMJ Global Health
Online Access:https://gh.bmj.com/content/4/6/e001870.full
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author Brandon A Kohrt
Amit S Mistry
Nalini Anand
Blythe Beecroft
Iman Nuwayhid
author_facet Brandon A Kohrt
Amit S Mistry
Nalini Anand
Blythe Beecroft
Iman Nuwayhid
author_sort Brandon A Kohrt
collection DOAJ
description Globally, humanitarian crises—such as armed conflict, forced displacement, natural disasters and major disease outbreaks—affect more people today than at any point in recorded history. These crises have immense acute and long-term health impacts on hundreds of millions of people, predominantly in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), yet the evidence base that informs how humanitarian organisations respond to them is weak. Humanitarian crises are often treated as an outlier in global health. However, they are an increasingly common and widespread driver of health that should be integrated into comprehensive approaches and strategies, especially if we hope to achieve ambitious global health targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals. The academic research community can play an important role in addressing the evidence gap in humanitarian health. There are important scientific questions of high public health relevance that can only be addressed by conducting research in humanitarian settings. While working in these settings is uniquely challenging, there are effective strategies that can be employed, such as using flexible and adaptive research methodologies, partnering with non-governmental organisations and other humanitarian actors, and devoting greater attention to issues of research ethics, community engagement, local LMIC-based partners, building humanitarian research capacity and collaborating across disciplines.
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spelling doaj-art-394c03995e054060b3e80d88cea53f9c2024-12-12T01:05:13ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082019-12-014610.1136/bmjgh-2019-001870Health research in humanitarian crises: an urgent global imperativeBrandon A Kohrt0Amit S Mistry1Nalini Anand2Blythe Beecroft3Iman Nuwayhid4Division of Global Mental Health, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia, USAFogarty International Center, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USAFogarty International Center, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USAFogarty International Center, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USAFaculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, LebanonGlobally, humanitarian crises—such as armed conflict, forced displacement, natural disasters and major disease outbreaks—affect more people today than at any point in recorded history. These crises have immense acute and long-term health impacts on hundreds of millions of people, predominantly in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), yet the evidence base that informs how humanitarian organisations respond to them is weak. Humanitarian crises are often treated as an outlier in global health. However, they are an increasingly common and widespread driver of health that should be integrated into comprehensive approaches and strategies, especially if we hope to achieve ambitious global health targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals. The academic research community can play an important role in addressing the evidence gap in humanitarian health. There are important scientific questions of high public health relevance that can only be addressed by conducting research in humanitarian settings. While working in these settings is uniquely challenging, there are effective strategies that can be employed, such as using flexible and adaptive research methodologies, partnering with non-governmental organisations and other humanitarian actors, and devoting greater attention to issues of research ethics, community engagement, local LMIC-based partners, building humanitarian research capacity and collaborating across disciplines.https://gh.bmj.com/content/4/6/e001870.full
spellingShingle Brandon A Kohrt
Amit S Mistry
Nalini Anand
Blythe Beecroft
Iman Nuwayhid
Health research in humanitarian crises: an urgent global imperative
BMJ Global Health
title Health research in humanitarian crises: an urgent global imperative
title_full Health research in humanitarian crises: an urgent global imperative
title_fullStr Health research in humanitarian crises: an urgent global imperative
title_full_unstemmed Health research in humanitarian crises: an urgent global imperative
title_short Health research in humanitarian crises: an urgent global imperative
title_sort health research in humanitarian crises an urgent global imperative
url https://gh.bmj.com/content/4/6/e001870.full
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