War and Public HealthBarry S. Levy, Victor W. Sidel The first comprehensive examination of the relationship between war and public health, this book documents the public health consequences of war and describes what health professionals can do to minimize these consequences and even help prevent war altogether. It explores the effects of war on health, human rights, and the environment. The health and environmental impact of both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction--nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons--is described in chapters that cover the consequences of their production, testing, maintenance, use, and disposal. The negative impact of the proliferation of weapons and of the international arms trade, including the diversion of resources that could otherwise be allocated for health and human welfare, is also discussed. Separate chapters cover especially vulnerable populations, such as women, children, and refugees. In-depth descriptions of specific military conflicts, including the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and wars in Central America provide striking illustrations of the issues covered in other chapters. A series of chapters explores the roles of health professionals and of organizations during war, and in preventing war and its consequences. A wide range of individuals, including physicians, nurses, and other health professionals, will find this book enlightening and useful in their work. The book will be valuable for faculty and students in schools of public health, medicine, nursing, and other health professions. In addition, it will be useful to those working in the fields of law, economics, international studies, peace and conflict resolution, military studies, diplomacy, and sociology, and in related disciplines. |
Contents
A Global Perspective | 3 |
Children Wars and the Responsibility of the International Community | 12 |
The Human Consequences of War | 27 |
The Impact of War on Human Rights | 39 |
The Environmental Consequences of War | 51 |
Effects of Weapons Systems on Public Health | 63 |
The Public Health Effects of the Use of Chemical Weapons | 84 |
The Public Health Effects of Biological Weapons | 98 |
The Impacts of Specific Military Conflicts on Public Health | 213 |
Public Health and War in Central America | 238 |
Public Health and the Persian Gulf War | 254 |
The Roles of Public Health Professionals | 279 |
The Roles of Nongovernmental Organizations in Responding to Health Needs | 293 |
Our Only Hope of Intervention in Civil War | 308 |
Can War and Its Public Health Consequences Be Prevented? | 323 |
Preventing Nuclear War | 336 |
Effects of War and Other Military Activities on Populations | 147 |
The Psychological Effects of War on Children | 168 |
The Impact of War on Women | 186 |
Displaced Persons and War | 197 |
Public Health Nurses and the Peace | 350 |
Conflict Resolution and Mediation for Health Professionals | 375 |
Roles | 388 |
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Common terms and phrases
activities agents American areas armed conflict biological warfare biological weapons bombs camps cancer casualties caused Center Chapter chemical weapons child civilians combat conflict resolution Convention destruction developing countries disarmament diseases displaced persons economic effects El Salvador embargo environment environmental estimated ethical exposed exposure Figure global Gulf Hiroshima hospitals Human Rights humanitarian hypocenter impact increased injuries internally displaced internally displaced persons IPPNW Iraq Iraq's Iraqi killed land mines malnutrition Médecins Sans Frontières mediation Medicine military million mortality Nagasaki needs NGOs nuclear weapons nurses nutritional organizations peace peacekeeping percent Persian Gulf War personnel Physicians for Human political population prevent problems programs psychological radiation Red Cross refugees relief result risk role Rwanda Salvador sanctions social soldiers Somalia South Vietnam Soviet stockpiling survivors trauma troops U.S. government UNICEF United Nations victims Vietnamese violence wars Washington women workers World wounded York
Popular passages
Page 333 - Human history becomes more and more a race between Education and Catastrophe' (HG Wells, The Outline of History (1920)).