Taking the time to understand the contexts in which we work also allows us to view our work from a different perspective. Once again this month, we are offering you four resources focusing on the provision of care in times of war and on the lasting impact of conflict on both patients and carers.
In Syria, the wounds we cannot see
After fourteen years of war, the need for mental health care remains immense in Syria. In this short report, ARTE takes a look inside the country’s psychiatric hospitals and gives a voice to both patients and care staff.
In just a few minutes, these images remind us that the consequences of a conflict do not end when the fighting stops, and that reconstruction also involves addressing mental health.
Overcoming the wounds of war
In this other documentary, ARTE met with wounded Ukrainian soldiers who are trying to cope with the after-effects of the war. Some of them, in particular, are turning to traditional or alternative methods to ease their pain.
The Carpathians: Treating Ukrainian Soldiers is ultimately less about war than about what comes afterwards: the pain, rehabilitation and that long, sometimes invisible journey towards recovery.
Providing care in dangerous situations
How can we continue to provide care when the hospital is no longer a safe place?
In this episode of Global Health Matters, the WHO podcast, healthcare workers and specialists discuss the reality of working in conflict zones, from Sudan to Syria: attacks on healthcare facilities, insecurity, the daily pressures they face and the need, despite everything, to continue caring for patients.
A personal account that serves as a reminder of a fundamental truth: safeguarding access to healthcare also means safeguarding those who make it possible.
Podcast in English, with a French transcript available.
War Doctor: providing care and sharing knowledge in times of war
For more than twenty-five years, the British surgeon David Nott has been operating in war zones, from Sarajevo to Aleppo, via Gaza, Afghanistan and Yemen.
In *War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line*, he recounts the reality of practising medicine in extreme conditions, as well as the importance of passing on his knowledge to local medical teams. It is a powerful account that resonates with our approach at Mehad, where the training of healthcare workers is central to our work.
Audiobook in English.
These stories reveal a reality that figures do not always capture. In times of war, providing care means carrying on despite the danger, adapting, passing on knowledge and offering support well beyond the immediate emergency. Your support, meanwhile, enables Mehad to restore, day by day, the healthcare systems weakened by conflict.
