Public Health, Conflict and Human Rights: Toward a Collaborative Research Agenda

Although epidemiology is increasingly contributing to policy debates on issues of conflict and human rights, its potential is still underutilized. As a result, this article calls for greater collaboration between public health researchers, conflict analysts, and human rights monitors, with special emphasis on retrospective, population-based surveys. The article surveys relevant recent public health research, explains why collaboration is useful, and outlines possible future research scenarios, including those about the indirect and long-term consequences of conflict; human rights and security in conflict-prone areas; and the link between human rights, conflict, and International Humanitarian Law