{"id":209518,"date":"2022-03-25T13:53:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T17:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=209518"},"modified":"2022-03-25T15:01:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T19:01:13","slug":"physicians-and-the-health-of-populations","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2022\/physicians-and-the-health-of-populations\/","title":{"rendered":"Physicians and the Health Consequences of War"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-media-focus-center-middle has-text-position-x-center has-text-position-y-bottom\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/jama-hospitals-original.png\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/jama-hospitals-original.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/jama-hospitals-original-636x398.png 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/jama-hospitals-original-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/jama-hospitals-original-768x480.png 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/jama-hospitals-original-755x472.png 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/jama-hospitals-original-900x563.png 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/jama-hospitals-original-1200x750.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">war<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhysicians and the Health Consequences of War\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Health professionals should consider how they can engage in the context of war to fulfill their commitment to health, writes Dean Sandro Galea in a new commentary. <\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar js-block-editorial-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">March 25, 2022<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/jillian-mckoy\/\">Jillian McKoy<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>The senseless Russian attacks in Ukraine over the past month have caused catastrophic damage and human suffering to civilians and military alike. The widespread harm of this unprovoked war\u2014including an escalating disregard for maintaining the safety of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2022\/03\/17\/humanitarian-corridors-ukraine-explained\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">humanitarian corridors<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/goatsandsoda\/2022\/03\/16\/1086982186\/russias-strike-on-ukraine-maternity-hospital-is-part-of-a-terrible-wartime-tradi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">healthcare facilities<\/a>\u2014have drawn international condemnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amid the horrific events that continue to unfold with no immediate end in sight, physicians should consider how they can engage in war to fulfill their commitment to health, writes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/sandro-galea\/\">Sandro Galea<\/a>, SPH dean and Robert A. Knox Professor, in a new commentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of paramount importance is medical neutrality to allow for healthcare professionals to treat wounded individuals in affected areas, Galea writes in the commentary, <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama-health-forum\/fullarticle\/2790429\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published recently in <em>JAMA Health Forum<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLong-established\u2014but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nejm.org\/doi\/10.1056\/NEJMp1513512\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">often violated<\/a>\u2014principles of medical neutrality and of respect for health professionals and health care institutions are essential to ensure that medicine can help at a time when it is needed most,\u201d Galea writes. \u201cPhysicians worldwide need to ensure that they speak with one voice about the importance of protecting health care workers who are in war-torn areas, offering both solidarity in word, and\u2014when possible\u2014pragmatic support to ensure that local clinicians have the best conditions to restore those injured to health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Healthcare professionals should make a point to study and write about the harms of war, he writes. \u201cDocumenting these harms may seem a wan response to an evolving humanitarian crisis, but it is on a scaffolding of documentation that we change the world\u2019s perspective on the harms incurred by actions like war, with the goals of preventing or halting such conflicts in the long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As trusted individuals, physicians should also use their platform to engage in anti-war advocacy, he states, citing organizations such as Physicians for Human Rights and Swedish Physicians Against Nuclear Weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf the war in Ukraine has taught us anything,\u201d Galea writes, \u201cit is the imperative for more, not less, involvement of health professionals in civil society, to work toward embedding health as a central universal value, one whose import pushes back against any argument for engagement in war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama-health-forum\/fullarticle\/2790429\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">full article here<\/a>. &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The senseless Russian attacks in Ukraine over the past month have caused catastrophic damage and human suffering to civilians and military alike. The widespread harm of this unprovoked war\u2014including an escalating disregard for maintaining the safety of humanitarian corridors and healthcare facilities\u2014have drawn international condemnation. Amid the horrific events that continue to unfold with no [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15205,"featured_media":209520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"war","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[2430,2265,2381,2032],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3531,3545],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/209518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209518"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/209518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209599,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/209518\/revisions\/209599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209518"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=209518"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=209518"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=209518"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=209518"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=209518"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=209518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}