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Last updated 2/1/06
CONFERENCE
ABSTRACT
Every gun that is made, every warship
launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft
from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not
clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It
is spending the sweat of laborers, the genius of scientists, the hopes
of its children.
— Dwight
Eisenhower, U.S. President and General
Many realize that war
and violent conflict change the health
care environment for those directly targeted or caught between warring
parties. However, the fact that wars do not end when the bombs
stop
falling and the fighting ceases is too often overlooked. The
devastation begins long before and continues long after, in the land
and in the minds and bodies of the affected population on both sides of
a conflict, including threats to the health and well-being of
military personnel, their families and communities. This
conference
will address these more chronic and less visible effects.
Physicians for Social Responsibility and conference sponsors expect
that information gleaned and shared
during such a conference can prove of value in preventing future
violent conflict.
Topics to be covered
include: (see also Conference
Objectives)
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Mental health problems caused by
war on civilians, refugees,
and military personnel.
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Caring for war wounded.
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Unique war-related threats to
women.
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How war-devastated
infrastructure and military-associated pollution
of air, land, and water interact to adversely affect health of current
and
future generations.
-
Loss of intellectual capital
through flight of medical
expertise from conflict areas.
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Budgeting for care of the
chronic needs of the war impacted.
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Ethics and duties of health care
providers to provide care
and protect human rights.
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Health care provider
participation in torture.
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Prioritizing
health care as a healthier
foreign policy initiative to prevent
terrorism.
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