Panel details

Panel organiser(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online
Number of paper presentations	5

Abstract

People in humanitarian emergencies are much more likely to experience severe health consequences caused by lack of access to food, water, shelter, sanitation and medical care leading to a substantial burden of excess mortality. The COVID-19 pandemic poses an additional threat in fragile and humanitarian settings as it can cause extra burden to already weak health systems, disrupt supply chains for medicine and basic supplies, and spread quickly in overcrowded spaces and shelters with insufficient hygiene and sanitation facilities. In order to best respond to the needs of such affected populations, research in humanitarian settings is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool that helps policy makers to use scarce resources effectively. Despite widespread appreciation of the importance of reliable public health data, inherent dynamics and challenges in such settings make it difficult to conduct rigorous, gold standard research. Whilst research in humanitarian settings is scarce, the dearth of health research is arguably greater among mobile populations and populations that are experiencing active conflict. There are a few effective strategies and innovative approaches that can be used. This panel invites papers that use innovative and novel research approaches in humanitarian and conflict settings. We are especially interested in latest research activities and emerging evidence on strategic topics related to undernutrition; morbidity, mortality; cash based interventions (CBI); use of mHealth; Covid-19 among other topics.

Paper presentations