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COVID-19 and humanitarian crises

Edited by Jonathan Polonsky and Bayard Roberts


COVID-19COVID-19 poses major threats to populations affected by humanitarian crises and forced displacement due to over-crowding, intense social mixing, inadequate water and sanitation, high existing morbidity levels, and limited resources and health care capacity, and challenges implementing recommended public health and social measures to limit transmission. Governments, health and humanitarian agencies and affected populations are having to urgently adapt or develop new practices in response to COVID-19. This article collection in Conflict and Health seeks papers to improve understanding of the risks and impacts of COVID-19 to crisis-affected populations, and strategies and responses to address these. The thematic series will provide an important forum to share evidence, perspectives and opinions on COVID-19 and humanitarian crises and responses.

This collection will undergo the journal’s normal peer review process and be subject to an article-processing charge.  Manuscripts should be formatted according to our submission guidelines and submitted via the online submission system. During submission, please make sure that the correct collection title is chosen at the 'Additional Information' step. Please also indicate clearly in the covering letter that the manuscript is to be considered for this collection. This is an open-ended series and articles will be accepted for ongoing publication.

  1. Populations affected by armed conflict and other humanitarian crises are at elevated risk for mental health problems. While the COVID-19 pandemic has had broadly deleterious effects on livelihoods, economic we...

    Authors: Andrea Armijos, Annie G. Bonz, Felicity L. Brown, Danielle Charlet, Flora Cohen, M. Claire Greene, Sabrina Hermosilla, Leah E. James and Karine Le Roch
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2023 17:7
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. Understanding and improving access to essential services in (post)-conflict settings requires paying particular attention to the actors who occupy the space left ‘empty’ by weak or deficient State institutions...

    Authors: Sadiki Kangamina, Jean-Benoit Falisse, Amuda Baba, Liz Grant, Nigel Pearson, Yossa Way and Emma Wild-Wood
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2022 16:56
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. The Gaza Strip, like other settings of complex humanitarian emergencies, faces immense challenges in vaccinating its population against COVID-19. This study was conducted in October 2021 among Gaza’s adult pop...

    Authors: Jennifer Majer, Jehad H. Elhissi, Nabil Mousa and Natalya Kostandova
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2022 16:48
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated rapid development of preparedness and response plans to quell transmission and prevent illness across the world. Increasingly, there is an appreciation of the need to con...

    Authors: Yara M. Asi, Priliantina Bebasari, Emily Hardy, Michelle Lokot, Kristen Meagher, Emilomo Ogbe, Ateeb Ahmad Parray, Vandana Sharma, Claire J. Standley and Luissa Vahedi
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2022 16:4
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. The guidelines for differentiated service delivery (DSD) for HIV treatment became operational in Cameroon in 2017 with the Test and Treat national strategy elaborating services that can be decentralized and ta...

    Authors: Lundi-Anne Omam, Elizabeth Jarman, Wilfred Ekokobe, Agbor Evon and Esther Njomo Omam
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2021 15:90
    Content type: Research in practice Published on:

  6. COVID-19 has spread across the African continent, including Niger. Yet very little is known about the phenotype of people who tested positive for COVID-19. In this humanitarian crises region, we aimed at chara...

    Authors: Patrick D. M. C. Katoto, Issoufou Aboubacar, Batouré Oumarou, Eric Adehossi, Blanche-Philomene Melanga Anya, Aida Mounkaila, Adamou Moustapha, El khalef Ishagh, Gbaguidi Aichatou Diawara, Biey Joseph Nsiari-Muzeyi, Tambwe Didier and Charles Shey Wiysonge
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2021 15:89
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. For almost a decade now, Mali has been facing a security crisis that led to the displacement of thousands of people within the country. Since March 2020, a health crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic also su...

    Authors: Mohamed Ali Ag Ahmed, Birama Apho Ly, Niélé Hawa Diarra, Fatoumata Bintou Traore, Djeneba Diarra, Inna Fatoumata Kande, Mahamadou Dembele, Seydou Doumbia and Hassane Alami
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2021 15:88
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. For humanitarian organisations to respond effectively to complex crises, they require access to up-to-date evidence-based guidance. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of updating global guidanc...

    Authors: Alex Odlum, Rosemary James, Audrey Mahieu, Karl Blanchet, Chiara Altare, Neha Singh and Paul Spiegel
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2021 15:83
    Content type: Research Published on:

  9. The negative impact of COVID-19 on population health outcomes raises critical questions on health system preparedness and resilience, especially in resource-limited settings. This study examined healthworker p...

    Authors: Gloria Seruwagi, Catherine Nakidde, Felix Otieno, Joshua Kayiwa, Brian Luswata, Eric Lugada, Eric Awich Ochen, Denis Muhangi, Betty Okot, Dunstan Ddamulira, Andrew Masaba and Stephen Lawoko
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2021 15:79
    Content type: Research Published on:

  10. The political and military advance of the Taliban, reduced healthcare capacity, and imminent humanitarian crisis risk exacerbating an already very serious threat posed by COVID-19 in Afghanistan. The continued...

    Authors: Mohammad Yasir Essar, Mohammad Mehedi Hasan, Zarmina Islam, Mehr Muhammad Adeel Riaz, Abdullahi Tunde Aborode and Shoaib Ahmad
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2021 15:70
    Content type: Letter to the Editor Published on:

  12. This Letter to the Editor aims to reflect on the current challenges to increase the coverage of COVID-19 vaccination in the fragile and conflict-affected setting of Lebanon, which is currently experiencing one...

    Authors: Ludmila Lobkowicz, Julien Lahoud and Ibrahim Bou-Orm
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2021 15:66
    Content type: Letter to the Editor Published on:

  13. Authorities in Somalia responded with drastic measures after the first confirmed COVID-19 case in mid-March 2020, closing borders, schools, limiting travel and prohibiting most group functions. However, the im...

    Authors: Dorien H. Braam, Sharath Srinivasan, Luke Church, Zakaria Sheikh, Freya L. Jephcott and Salome Bukachi
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2021 15:47
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first reported in Sudan on 13 March 2020. Since then, Sudan has experienced one of the highest rates of COVID-19 spread and fatalities in Africa. One year later, as...

    Authors: Quraish Sserwanja, Mohammed Bashir Adam, Joseph Kawuki and Emmanuel Olal
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2021 15:34
    Content type: Case study Published on:

  15. In this commentary we propose four questions to be addressed while building a meaningful public primary healthcare response in Lebanon today. These questions emerge from two imperatives: the necessity to consi...

    Authors: Randa Sami Hamadeh, Ola Kdouh, Rawan Hammoud, Enrica Leresche and Jennifer Leaning
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2021 15:23
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  16. A patient charter is an explicit declaration of the rights of patients within a particular health care setting. In early 2020 the Save the Children Emergency Health Unit deployed to Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh to s...

    Authors: Catherine R. McGowan, Nora Hellman, Louisa Baxter, Sonali Chakma, Samchun Nahar, Ahasan Ud Daula, Kelly Rowe, Josie Gilday, Patricia Kingori, Rachel Pounds and Rachael Cummings
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2020 14:86
    Content type: Methodology Published on:

  17. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has put an additional strain on Afghanistan’s weak healthcare system. Prior to the pandemic, the government and its allies had already problems in providing high qualit...

    Authors: Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III, Mohammad Yasir Essar, Attaullah Ahmadi, Xu Lin and Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2020 14:65
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  18. Refugees and internally displaced persons in humanitarian settings are particularly susceptible to the spread of infectious illnesses such as COVID-19 due to overcrowding and inadequate access to clean water, ...

    Authors: Jude Alawa, Nawara Alawa, Adam Coutts, Richard Sullivan, Kaveh Khoshnood and Fouad M. Fouad
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2020 14:64
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  19. COVID-19 prevention strategies in resource limited settings, modelled on the earlier response in high income countries, have thus far focused on draconian containment strategies, which impose movement restrict...

    Authors: Maysoon Dahab, Kevin van Zandvoort, Stefan Flasche, Abdihamid Warsame, Ruwan Ratnayake, Caroline Favas, Paul B. Spiegel, Ronald J. Waldman and Francesco Checchi
    Citation: Conflict and Health 2020 14:54
    Content type: Commentary Published on: