| Specific Detail Info |
The four horsemen of the Apocalypse – Pestilence, Famine, War and Death –illustrate in many ways obvious connection between health and armed conflict. The purpose of this paper is to show how these four horsemen work together, and particularly, how pestilence, famine and death interact with war. Another focus in the paper is how working to stop one of the horsemen in his tracks can help hinder the others. The paper highlights that deterioration of health, both because of direct causalities from conflict and indirect effects through breakdown in service provision and health infrastructure, is the most obvious link between conflict and health. However, the precise character of the link is far from clear. The paper distinguishes between two ways that health may promote peace. One is “Health as a bridge to peace”, and the other is that the re-establishment of provision of basic health services may help strengthen the basic legitimacy that a state needs to have to function. The paper notes an association between poverty and conflict, as most countries currently experiencing violent conflict in their own territory are poor. Nearly all poor countries have low health indicators and this should not be ignored. The paper concludes that, most likely, everything that functions in a society when peace arrives will probably help to preserve and build the peace. For this reason, functioning health systems may help prevent further conflict. |
