Medicine, conflict, and survival
-
A method is described which translates qualitative reports about armed violence into meaningful quantitative data allowing an evidence-based approach to the causes and effects of the global health impact of armed violence on unarmed people. Analysis of 100 randomly selected news reports shows that the type of weapon used, the psychological aspect of the violence, the number of weapons in use and the victims' vulnerability independently influence the mortality of victims. Data collated by the same method could be analysed together with indicators of poverty, development and health so illuminating the relationship between such indicators and degradation of peoples' physical security through acts of armed violence. The method could also help uphold the laws of war and human rights.
-
The increase in humanitarian crises due to states failing to observe the human rights of their citizens led to the establishment of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. Whilst all agree with the need for concerted action to protect innocent civilians from human rights abuses the focus must be on prevention; the use of military force creates further problems. An analysis of failed states, such as Rwanda, shows how the actions of the international community, especially the most powerful states, contribute to conditions creating the abuse and how appropriate actions by the external players could have prevented these abuses.