Famine and war.

Famine food of vegetal origin consumed in the Netherlands during World War II

BACKGROUND Periods of extreme food shortages during war force people to eat food that they normally do not consider edible. The last time that countries in Western Europe experienced severe scarcities was during World War II. The so-called Dutch famine or Hunger Winter (1944-1945) made at least 25,000 victims. The Dutch government took action by opening soup kitchens and providing information o...

War, famine and excess child mortality in Africa: the role of parental education.

BACKGROUND Civilian-targeted warfare and famine constitute two of the greatest public health challenges of our time. Both have devastated many countries in Africa. Social services, and in particular, health services, have been destroyed. Dictatorial and military governments have used the withholding of food as a political weapon to exacerbate human suffering. Under such circumstances, war and f...

Food as an instrument of war in contemporary african famines: a review of the evidence.

Famine is conventionally portrayed as a natural disaster expressed in terms of food scarcity and culminating in starvation. This view has attracted criticism in recent years as the political, legal and social dimensions of famine have become more clearly understood. This paper draws upon these criticisms to understand the particular conditions of famine creation in conflict situations. Followin...

Genesis of Nutritional Oedema

war or exploration in polar regions. Keys, et al (1950) and McCance (1951) have recently given a comprehensive historical survey of famine and war cedemas. I have no intention of covering the same ground again. So far as India is concerned, the last experience we had of hunger oedema on a large scale was in the Bengal famine of 1943-1944. Even now in certain regions of India, one gets not infre...

Public health in times of war and famine: what can be done? What should be done?