Challenges to Delivering Humanitarian Health Care in Today’s Conflicts

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences partnered with Chatham House to convene a panel discussion on opportunities and risks at the intersection of health care, conflict, and peace in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere. The event was held on November 6 with participants in person at Chatham House’s UK headquarters and via Zoom.

The conversation began with remarks from Academy President David Oxtoby and was moderated by Patricia Lewis (Chatham House) with speakers Larissa Fast (The University of Manchester), Ulana Suprun (Ukrainian Health Ministry), and Natalie Roberts (Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders) discussing the challenging global context for delivering humanitarian health responses, as well as specific issues pertaining to the unique nature of providing aid in areas of conflict.

The discussion drew upon Delivering Humanitarian Health Services in Violent Conflicts, the Spring 2023 issue of Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The open access publication is a product of the Academy’s project on Rethinking the Humanitarian Health Response to Violent Conflict. The publication and project are led by Jaime Sepúlveda (University of California, San Francisco), Jennifer M. Welsh (McGill University), and Paul H. Wise (Stanford University).