Sexual and reproductive health of women.

requires broad but locally oriented research agendas backed by a vibrant civil society that promotes evidence based health and shields scientific inquiry from dominant social and political doctrines. More research is also needed in “taboo” areas associated with major health problems—for example, domestic violence, mental health, and the health of special groups (such as Palestinian refugees and Kurdish minorities). The taboos may be unwritten but their impact at government level is strong. In authoritarian regimes health ministries have little incentive to present “bad” or politically loaded data or work on such data obtained from other sources, especially as they are not held accountable for failing to do so by independent bodies or a free press. Against this bleak background, multiple conflicts are tearing the Middle East apart and delaying all aspects of development. These conflicts are used by national governments and outside powers alike to divert public attention from developmental failures. They nourish narrow interests and result in suffering and despair, driving people to regroup along ethnic, religious, and tribal loyalties, which undermine the state’s status and erode the community’s spirit and trust. Health, along with all facets of life in this turbulent region, can only be improved if nations recognise the importance of investing in science, health, education, and culture. In the long run this is the only way they can provide their populations, rich or poor, with the means to assert their rights and assume responsibility for their own destiny.