| Description |
This dissertation aspires to create a better understanding of the real human costs of war. I seek to uncover the relationship between armed conflict and indirect health effects of armed conflict. There is a lot of attention paid to direct consequences of war, including casualty counts, direct destruction of infrastructure, and impacts on economies. This dissertation aims to dig further into the impact of armed conflict by focusing on the relationship between war and chronic and infectious diseases. In particular, I explore cardiovascular disease mortality to reflect chronic disease and cholera outbreak to represent infectious disease. These are examples of indirect health consequences of war that have been understudied in social science research. The depletion of resources, lack of access to health care, and general disruption to everyday life during times of armed conflict create excess stress and burdens, which increase morbidity and mortality. I use a variety of data to measure demographic, developmental, and conflict-related outcomes. Armed conflict has also been shown to exacerbate the occurrence and impact of infectious diseases such as cholera. The recent war in Iraq is used as a case study to explore mechanisms that resulted in a significant increase of cholera-related morbidity and mortality in that country. I find that armed conflict increases cardiovascular disease mortality rates across countries and over time, as well as incidence of infectious disease outbreak. Limitations of data are discussed as well as recommendations for future research. |
