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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Dear
Colleagues of PHA,<BR><BR><FONT face=Arial>I would like to share with you this
information</FONT> <FONT face=Arial>about the armed violence sequences for
public health in The Human Development Report 2005.</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#000000>Hope you find it
interesting.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"> <FONT face=Arial>Best
Regards<BR><BR> Ghassan Shahrour<BR> Yarmouk</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>IANSA Public Health Net on Small Arms<BR> Damascus -
Syria<BR> Email 1: </FONT><A href="mailto:afodafro@scs-net.org"><FONT
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>afodafro@scs-net.org</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> Email 2: </FONT><A
href="mailto:syria@icbl.org"><FONT face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>syria@icbl.org</FONT></A><BR></SPAN></P>
<P></STRONG></SPAN></FONT><FONT color=#000000><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><STRONG><FONT
color=#000000>This</FONT> <FONT color=#000000>year’s Human Development Report
takes stock of human development, including progress towards the MDGs</FONT>.
<FONT color=#000000>Looking beyond statistics, it highlights the human costs of
missed targets and broken promises. Extreme inequality between countries and
within countries is identified as one of the main barriers to human</FONT> <FONT
color=#000000>development—and as a powerful brake on accelerated progress
towards the MDGs. </FONT></STRONG></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#000000><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><STRONG>Pls, be
informed that Chapter 5 focuses on violent Conflict:</STRONG></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_chapter_5.pdf"><STRONG><FONT
color=#000000><SPAN
style="COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; TEXT-DECORATION: none">Chapter
5</SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: #333399">: Violent conflict—bringing the real threat
into focus (536KB)</SPAN></FONT></STRONG></A></SPAN><?xml:namespace prefix = o
ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><FONT color=#000000>It includes important information about : the
armed violence sequences for public health.</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT color=#000000>Hope you find it interesting.</FONT></P>
<P align=left></SPAN></FONT><STRONG>The a</STRONG><STRONG>dverse consequences
for public health:</STRONG></P>
<P align=left></FONT><FONT size=3><FONT size=2> Violent conflict generates
</FONT><FONT size=2>obvious health risks in the short run. Over </FONT><FONT
size=2>the longer term the health impact of violent </FONT><FONT size=2>conflict
claims more lives than bullets.</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT size=2>Most of the 2 million child deaths attributable
</FONT><FONT size=2>to conflict fall into this category. Similarly, </FONT><FONT
size=2>increased vulnerability to disease and injury </FONT><FONT size=2>poses
major threats for vulnerable groups, </FONT><FONT size=2>especially for refugees
and internally displaced </FONT><FONT size=2>people. Acute malnutrition,
diarrhoeal diseases, </FONT><FONT size=2>measles, respiratory infections and
malaria </FONT><FONT size=2>are often cited as reasons why mortality rates
</FONT><FONT size=2>among refugees have been more than 80 times </FONT><FONT
size=2>the baseline rates in parts of Africa.</FONT></FONT><FONT size=2>
</FONT><FONT size=2>But even </FONT><FONT size=2>the non-displaced suffer
because diseases that </FONT><FONT size=2>develop in refugee camps tend to
spread easily </FONT><FONT size=2>to local areas. In Chechnya the rate for
tuberculosis </FONT><FONT size=2>was found to be 160 cases per 10,000
</FONT><FONT size=2>compared with 90 for the rest of the Russian </FONT><FONT
size=2>Federation. </FONT><FONT size=2>Violent conflict has a proven track
record in </FONT><FONT size=2>disrupting the supply of basic health services,
</FONT><FONT size=2>especially to poor communities. Like schools, </FONT><FONT
size=2>health facilities are often viewed by rebel groups </FONT><FONT size=2>as
a legitimate military target. Nearly half of all </FONT><FONT size=2>primary
health centres in Mozambique were </FONT><FONT size=2>looted and the surrounding
areas mined during </FONT><FONT size=2>the civil war.</FONT><FONT size=2>30
</FONT><FONT size=2>Medical personnel often flee con-</FONT><FONT size=2>flict
areas as well. Even areas with good health </FONT><FONT size=2>indicators prior
to the onset of violence can </FONT><FONT size=2>experience sharp deterioration.
In Bosnia and </FONT><FONT size=2>Herzegovina 95% of children were immunized
before hostilities broke out in the early 1990s. </FONT><FONT size=2>By 1994, at
the peak of the fighting, the immunization rate had plunged to less than 35%.
</FONT><FONT size=2>Conflict can disrupt the provision of important </FONT><FONT
size=2>public goods needed to improve health across </FONT><FONT size=2>society
and combat debilitating and deadly diseases.</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT size=2>Despite worldwide attempts to eradicate </FONT><FONT
size=2>Guinea worm, river blindness and polio, these </FONT><FONT
size=2>diseases have taken hold in areas of the most intense </FONT><FONT
size=2>conflict in Africa.</FONT><FONT size=2> </FONT><FONT size=2>Armed
conflict has had a role in the spread </FONT><FONT size=2>of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic. In 2003 of the 17 </FONT><FONT size=2>countries that had more than
100,000 children </FONT><FONT size=2>orphaned by AIDS, 13 were in conflict or on
</FONT><FONT size=2>the brink of an emergency.</FONT><FONT size=2> </FONT><FONT
size=2>Several factors can contribute to the spread of HIV during conflict
situations, and many of those factors leave women particularly vulnerable:
population displacement; breakdown of relationships; use of rape as a weapon;
increased sexual coercion in exchange for money, food or protection; collapse of
health systems, with a resulting breakdown </FONT><FONT size=2>in access to
information and supplies </FONT><FONT size=2>that can help control exposure to
HIV; and declining </FONT><FONT size=2>safety of blood
transfusions.</FONT></P><FONT color=#ffffff size=1>
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