The impact of war on the health system of the Tigray region in Ethiopia: An assessment Gesesew, H, Berhane, K, Siraj, ES, Siraj, D, Gebregziabher, M, Gebre, YG, Gebreslassie, SA, Amdes, F, Tesema, AG, Siraj, A, Aregawi, M, Gezahegn, S and Tesfay, Fisaha 2021, The impact of war on the health system of the Tigray region in Ethiopia: An assessment, BMJ Global Health, vol. 6, pp. 1-7, doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007328. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title The impact of war on the health system of the Tigray region in Ethiopia: An assessment Author(s) Gesesew, H Berhane, K Siraj, ES Siraj, D Gebregziabher, M Gebre, YG Gebreslassie, SA Amdes, F Tesema, AG Siraj, A Aregawi, M Gezahegn, S Tesfay, Fisaha orcid.org/0000-0003-0399-1711 Journal name BMJ Global Health Volume number 6 Article ID e007328 Start page 1 End page 7 Total pages 7 Publisher BMJ Publishing Place of publication London, Eng. Publication date 2021-11 ISSN 2059-7908 2059-7908 Keyword(s) diseases disorders epidemiology infections injuries Life Sciences & Biomedicine public health Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Science & Technology Summary The war in Tigray region of Ethiopia that started in November 2020 and is still ongoing has brought enormous damage to the health system. This analysis provides an assessment of the health system before and during the war. Evidence of damage was compiled from November 2020 to June 2021 from various reports by the interim government of Tigray, and also by international non-governmental organisations. Comparison was made with data from the prewar calendar year. Six months into the war, only 30% of hospitals, 17% of health centres, 11.5% of ambulances and none of the 712 health posts were functional. As of June 2021, the population in need of emergency food assistance in Tigray increased from less than one million to over 5.2 million. While the prewar performance of antenatal care, supervised delivery, postnatal care and children vaccination was 64%, 73%, 63% and 73%, respectively, but none of the services were likely to be delivered in the first 90 days of the war. A conservative estimate places the number of girls and women raped in the first 5 months of the war to be 10 000. These data indicate a widespread destruction of livelihoods and a collapse of the healthcare system. The use of hunger and rape as a weapon of war and the targeting of healthcare facilities are key components of the war. To avert worsening conditions, an immediate intervention is needed to deliver food and supplies and rehabilitate the healthcare delivery system and infrastructure Language eng DOI 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007328 HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Free to Read? Yes Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30160025 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Health School of Health and Social Development Open Access Collection Related Links Link Description Link to full-text (open access)   Connect to Elements publication management system Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au. Versions Version Filter Type Wed, 01 Dec 2021, 10:07:05 EST Wed, 01 Dec 2021, 14:52:09 EST Wed, 01 Dec 2021, 14:56:19 EST Wed, 15 Dec 2021, 05:08:23 EST Sat, 18 Dec 2021, 01:31:09 EST Sat, 18 Dec 2021, 01:45:36 EST Wed, 23 Feb 2022, 13:21:05 EST Wed, 23 Feb 2022, 15:34:13 EST Wed, 23 Feb 2022, 15:37:23 EST Wed, 23 Feb 2022, 15:50:20 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 6 times in TR Web of Science Cited 7 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 8 Abstract Views, 0 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Wed, 01 Dec 2021, 10:07:05 EST