Nurses and Churches Are Essential to Postdisaster Recovery.

Two nurses, a mother and daughter, each participated in disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019. In recounting their experiences, both nurses demonstrate the vital contributions nurses can make at the sites of disasters. The invaluable role of churches in contributing to the disaster recovery effort is also described.

Cancer in Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon between 2015 and 2017.

Protracted conflicts in the Middle East have led to successive waves of refugees crossing borders. Chronic, non-communicable diseases are now recognised as diseases that need to be addressed in such crises. Cancer, in particular, with its costly, multidisciplinary care, poses considerable financial and ethical challenges for policy makers. In 2014 and with funding from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, we reported on cancer cases among Iraqi refugees in Jordan (2010-12) and Syria (2009-11). In this Policy Review, we provide data on 733 refugees referred to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon (2015-17) and Jordan (2016-17), analysed by cancer type, demographic risk factors, treatment coverage status, and cost. Results show the need for increased funding and evidence-based standard operating procedures across countries to ensure that patients have equitable access to care. We recommend a holistic response to humanitarian crises that includes education, screening, treatment, and palliative care for refugees and nationals and prioritises breast cancer and childhood cancers.

Humanitarian Struggle in Burma's Conflict Zones.

The Back Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT), a community- based health organization, provides primary health care to ethnic people in conflict, remote, and internally displaced areas, in Burma (aka Myanmar), controlled by ethnic armed organizations fighting against the Burma government. Its services include both curative and preventative health care through a network of 1,425 health personnel including community health workers and village-embedded traditional birth attendants and village health workers. The BPHWT organizational and program model may prove useful to Special Operations medical actions in support of insurgent movements and conversely with a host nation's counterinsurgency strategies, which include the extension of its health services into areas that may be remote and/or inhabited by indigenous people and have insurgency potential. In the former respect, special attention is directed toward "humanitarian struggle" that uses health care as a weapon against the counterinsurgency strategies of a country's oppressive military.

The Union and Médecins Sans Frontières approach to operational research.

Operational research (OR) has become a hot topic at national meetings, international conferences and donor fora. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Operational Centre Brussels strongly promote and implement OR with colleagues in low- and middle-income countries. Here we describe how the two organisations define OR, and explain the guiding principles and methodology that underpin the strategy for developing and expanding OR in those countries. We articulate The Union's and MSF's approach to supporting OR, highlighting the main synergies and differences. Then, using the Malawi National Tuberculosis Control Programme as an example, we show how OR can be embedded within tuberculosis control activities, leading to changes in policy and practice at the national level. We discuss the difficult, yet vitally important, issue of capacity building, and share our vision of a new paradigm of product-related training and performance-based OR fellowships as two ways of developing the necessary skills at country level to ensure research is actually performed. Finally, we highlight the need to consider and incorporate into practice the ethical components of OR. This is a key moment to be involved in OR. We are confident that in partnership with interested stakeholders, including the World Health Organization, we can stimulate the implementation of quality, relevant OR as an integral part of health service delivery that in turn will lead to better health for people, particularly for those living in the poorer parts of the world.

Task Force 62 Medical Brigade combat healthcare support system in the mature Iraq theater of operations.

Leading a deployed combat healthcare system is a very complex task and requires a command and control structure that is a unique blend of technical and tactical expertise to efficaciously deliver world-class medical care to America's sons and daughters. The medical task force in Iraq has successfully managed the transformation of the medical footprint from a tactically arrayed set of disparate medical units to a nascent integrated healthcare system with many features similar to the best healthcare systems in the United States. The American public demands, and Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen deserve US quality medical care, whether they are being treated at a military medical center in the US, or a US medical facility in Iraq. This article presents an overview of the 62nd Medical Brigade's development of the combat healthcare support system during its tenure leading the US medical task force in Iraq.

Lessons learned from Hurricane Mitch: a guide for holistic practice.

Hurricanes are often devastating for the victims. Although millions of dollars and hours are invested, relief efforts could be more effective. The purpose of this article is to utilize the lessons learned from Hurricane Mitch as a guide for holistic practice in both hurricane preparation and response planning.

Flood of support.

A year on from the torrential floods that struck Cumbria, many people are still unable to return to their homes. A team of therapists is helping people to cope with the stress and frustration. The January 2005 floods came four years after foot and mouth disease hit Cumbria. The region depends on agriculture, hill walking and tourism for revenue. Therapists offer residents a choice of eight, different complementary therapies. Users of the service say the therapies reduce stress and help them relax.

Aid in the midst of plenty: oil wealth, misery and advocacy in Angola.

This paper examines advocacy initiatives by humanitarian and human rights organisations to address problems of governance in resource-rich and conflict-affected countries, focussing on the case of Angola. Humanitarian principles preclude the use of indiscriminate conditionality and point towards a cautious approach to advocacy aimed at assisting vulnerable populations. Furthermore, the relatively insignificant amount of aid supplied to resource-rich local authorities means that individual agencies have precious little leverage, especially when commercial interests rather than humanitarian or 'good governance' principles influence the priorities of bilateral donors. A context of resource wealth calls for: high levels of coordination and cooperation between human rights groups, aid agencies and donors; balanced use of conditionality, based on the drawing, by donors, of a clear distinction between emergency and development-oriented assistance; and a sustained effort to highlight the responsibilities of local authorities, foreign governments and businesses in meeting humanitarian and development objectives.

[Humanitarian intervention, example of the French Civil Defense as a government organization]. / Intervention humanitaire, exemple de la Sécurité civile française comme organisme gouvernemental.

The French Civil Defense is a governmental organization dedicated to saving life and alleviating suffering after disasters in France and foreign countries. It provides aid during the crisis phase of the emergency based on detailed assessment of needs. The French Civil Defense organizes a range of emergency services including medical care, water supply, and search and rescue in cooperation with local and foreign teams.