28 September 2002

How to cope with war

Civilians living in a war zone are not just at risk from bombs and landmines. On 10th October, international experts will gather at the Royal Society of Medicine's meeting Caught in the Crossfire to examine the true impact of war, with case studies from Afghanistan, the Balkans, Northern Ireland and Central Asia.

Talks include:

Trauma counselling for war survivors is 'unhelpful'
Dr Derek Summerfield, London , - Psychosocial aspects in the third world
For the majority of war survivors, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a pseudocondition and a concept with "virtually nothing to offer", argues Dr Summerfield, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry and a former consultant to Oxfam. He will warn that applying Western medical labels to conflicts in other cultures is inappropriate and means we avoid tackling the political, economic and social consequences of war. Drawing on his experience in places like Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, Gaza and the former Yugoslavia, Dr Summerfield claims: "it is almost never the victims of war who ask for psychological interventions."

Are modern soldiers more likely to get stress disorders?
Mr Ben Shephard, Bristol - Veterans and life after war
You can often predict which wars are going to cause post-conflict problems, Mr Shephard claims, and it may have less to do with the battle itself than with civilian attitudes before, during and after the war. Mr Shephard, a military historian, will compare the problems suffered by Gulf and Falklands veterans with those experienced by returning WWII servicemen and women, and discuss whether wars nowadays produce more post-traumatic disorders than they used to. If you have a serviceman or woman facing deployment soon, what can you do to help them avoid becoming a post-traumatic stress disorder 'statistic'?
Please note Mr Shephard is not available until the week of the conference.

"For many children, becoming a soldier is a matter of survival"
Ms Sarah Uppard, Emergencies Adviser, Save the Children (SCUK) - Children Under Arms
At least 300,000 children are currently being used to fight in armed conflicts in over 30 countries across the world, Ms Uppard will warn. Often they live in circumstances where poverty and exclusion leave them very few other viable options, while others are actually abducted to join armed forces. Girls and boys are not only used in front line conflict, but also as informers or spies, and even as sex slaves. Ms Uppard will report on Save the Children's programmes and campaigns, including their work to release boys and girls from armed groups, trace their families, and support their reintegration into the protective structures of their communities. SCUK strongly advocates for the universal signature, ratification andimplementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights ofthe Child (CRC).

Why are soldiers willing to go to war?
Professor Robert Hinde, University of Cambridge - War: a cruel necessity?
Many, perhaps most, of those who go to war are aware that they may return maimed, or not at all. They may also be aware of the legacy that war leaves behind even for non-combatants. The questions of what makes young men willing to go to war, and of what makes us perceive war as a possible means for solving conflicts, are crucial. Professor Hinde will look at the main factors that continue to support war as an institution even in the 21st century, from films and novels to religion and national propaganda.

When disease is more lethal than bombs
Dr Sondorp, LSHTM, London - War and Communicable Disease
In many war zones, violent deaths are often a tiny proportion of overall deaths. In eastern Congo, recent figures show that more than eighty percent of people killed over a year and a half of conflict died from malnutrition and disease rather than direct violence. Dr Sondorp will discuss the issues with facts and figures from places like Sudan, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. He will question whether humanitarian aid programmes would be more effective if they approached the problem with more targeted strategies for managing deadly epidemics.

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