Margaret Bourdeaux: Why civilians suffer more once a war is over
Margaret Bourdeaux: Porque é que os civis sofrem mais depois de a guerra acabar
Margaret Bourdeaux investigates the best ways to protect, recover and reconstruct health systems and institutions disrupted by war or disaster. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
what it would be like
porque não há regras
there are no rules
e não há leis.
and there are no laws.
have disappeared.
desapareceram.
about what this is like,
a medical student in 1999,
de medicina, em 1999,
in the Balkans during the Kosovo War.
nos Balcãs, durante a Guerra do Kosovo.
da escola de medicina
from my medical school
that I had befriended in the camp
com quem tinha feito amizade no campo
life in this postwar setting.
a vida num ambiente de pós-guerra.
was a very interesting place
era um sítio muito interessante
the war didn't break out again.
que a guerra não recomeçasse.
it was actually a lawless place,
era um sítio sem lei
both public and private,
públicas e privadas,
of these situations and settings,
uma destas situações,
before you run into a situation
até entrarmos numa situação
how incredibly vulnerable you are.
como somos terrivelmente vulneráveis.
when I had to cross the first checkpoint,
ao primeiro posto de controlo
through this checkpoint
por aquele posto de controlo
right then and there,
ali mesmo, naquele momento,
anything illegal.
was absolutely nothing
que eu senti, não era nada
of the families that I got to know
das famílias que eu conheci
where there are no social institutions
em que não há instituições sociais
"What are we going to eat tonight?"
"O que é que vamos comer hoje à noite?"
when you don't have any security systems,
quando não há sistemas de segurança,
with the neighbor down the block
com o vizinho do andar de baixo
que acabará com a minha vida
that will end my life
when there is no health system
quando não há sistemas de saúde,
had to sort through questions like,
que passaram por situações destas:
What am I going to do?"
O que é que eu vou fazer?"
está com uma hemorragia.
is bleeding. What should I do?
A quem hei de recorrer?"
where are the nurses?
E as enfermeiras?"
In what currency will I pay them?"
Em que moeda terei que pagar?"
where will I find them?
onde é que os vou arranjar?"
não serão falsificações?"
are they actually counterfeits?"
the dominant feature of life,
a característica dominante da vida,
that people have to manage
que as pessoas têm que gerir
é extremamente difícil de explicar
is incredibly difficult to explain
who are living outside of it.
pelas pessoas que vivem fora dela.
I became a physician,
formei-me em medicina,
de saúde pública global.
health policy researcher.
Division of Global Health.
do Brigham and Women's Hospital.
por este problema imediatamente.
on this problem right away.
a terrível vulnerabilidade
the crushing vulnerability
of fragile settings?
nesta situação tão frágil?
we can start to think about
de podermos começar a pensar
that are critical to survival,
para a sobrevivência,
I had amazing colleagues.
eram muito estranhas.
question for them.
"Oh, if you work in war,
em campos de refugiados,
you work on refugee camps,
mass atrocities?" --
das atrocidades de massas?"
very, very important.
é extremamente importante.
why I was so passionate about this issue,
a minha paixão por esta questão,
um estudo de referência
the public health consequences of war
as consequências da guerra
provocative conclusion.
incrível e provocadora.
chegaram à conclusão
and disability from war
e das deficiências, por causa da guerra
living in a conflict-affected state
que vive num estado afetado pelo conflito
has been achieved.
but of course it's not,
mas, na verdade, não é,
by robbing them of their clinics,
they're on the run.
são mortos ou fogem.
and yet more deadly is the destruction
e das suas finanças.
and their finances.
surprising at all to me.
and somewhat dismaying,
e um pouco desanimador,
about human suffering and war.
no sofrimento humano e na guerra.
country of Liberia.
um país da África Ocidental.
about this group, Doctors Without Borders,
os Médicos Sem Fronteiras,
and calling for aid and assistance.
ajuda e assistência.
answered the question:
responderam à pergunta:
estavam na Libéria?"
even in Liberia?
is an amazing organization,
é uma organização fantástica,
emergency care in war zones.
cuidados de urgência em zonas de guerra.
before Ebola even struck.
do surto do Ébola.
in the entire country
em todo o país
estão na Libéria
a functioning health system,
um sistema de saúde a funcionar,
atingiu o Haiti, em 2010,
aid was phenomenal.
foi fenomenal.
two percent of that funding
Haitian public institutions,
das instituições públicas do Haiti,
from the earthquake even today.
por causa do terramoto.
in the northern autonomous region of Iraq,
na região autónoma norte do Iraque,
that in the last nine months,
nos últimos nove meses,
de quatro milhões de pessoas
from four million people
have experienced incredible trauma.
sofreram traumas enormes.
16-hour days without pay.
16 horas por dia, sem pagamento.
by 25 percent;
não aumentou em 25%,
and to short-term relief efforts.
para problemas de segurança
of the five million people in his region
dos cinco milhões de pessoas na região
whether they should flee
this is a frustrating topic for me,
é um tópico frustrante,
em proteger e apoiar
and security systems?
e sistemas de segurança locais?
two arguments.
duas preocupações, dois argumentos.
in these settings are corrupt
nestas situações são corruptas
unsavory characters
personagens sem escrúpulos
in these situations.
nestas situações.
is absolutely true
também é verdade
to Haiti, to Liberia --
ao Kosovo, ao Haiti, à Libéria.
for their country,
estavam feias no seu país,
to save their health institutions.
as instituições de saúde.
who wants to help
que querem ajudar, têm que fazer
in Afghanistan.
success stories
não cantadas e não contadas,
in Afghanistan
no Afeganistão,
investing heavily
que investiu fortemente
de líderes afegãos no setor da saúde.
Afghani health sector leaders.
have pulled off an incredible feat
realizaram uma façanha incrível
access to health care
o acesso aos cuidados de saúde
the health status
a situação da saúde
of Health does things
do Afeganistão faz coisas
para estabelecer políticas.
que oiço muitas vezes é:
we just don't have the money.
não temos dinheiro.
that the current situation
we could possibly conceive of.
que podemos imaginar.
is that when governments like the US --
quando governos como o dos EUA
of governments
que constituem a Comissão Europeia —
15 mil milhões de dólares
and disaster relief worldwide.
e catástrofe, a nível mundial.
that's just disaster relief.
é apenas ajuda em catástrofes.
goes to international relief agencies,
para organizações internacionais de ajuda,
into these areas,
para essas áreas
of temporary health system, let's say,
de sistema de saúde temporário
quando ficam sem dinheiro.
when they run out of money.
community policy experts,
comunitárias de saúde global,
in how to monitor
especialistas em como monitorizar
of health systems
dos sistemas de saúde
a desmoronar-se
and wave our arms.
e agitar os braços.
they don't need us to tell them that.
não é preciso dizer-lhes.
need to take their cue
em Harvard têm que se inspirar
in Afghanistan,
no Afeganistão.
health sector leaders like these.
líderes do setor de saúde como estes.
with some support.
and make new partnerships.
e fazer novas parcerias.
with NATO and other security policy makers
com a NATO e outros políticos de segurança
to protect health system institutions
do sistema de saúde
and other critical social institutions
e de outras instituições sociais críticas
collateral damage;
danos colaterais,
we need to engage is you,
de que precisamos são vocês,
and indeed, the world public.
e, claro, o público mundial.
the value of social institutions,
o valor das instituições sociais,
in these fragile settings,
nestes ambientes frágeis,
doctors are on the run in country X.
estão em fuga.
to, let's say, detect influenza."
de saúde detetar a gripe, por exemplo.
That's what I'd tell you.
institution defenders and builders.
que defenderam e criaram instituições.
the Marshall Plan
institutions after World War II.
económicas da Europa
really serves as the foundation
serve de base
human rights organizations.
internacionais de direitos humanos.
é Ben Franklin,
in terms of creating institutions,
em termos de criar instituições,
a nossa Constituição.
country was threatened,
quando o nosso país estava ameaçado,
to protect human security,
para proteger a segurança humana,
should do the same.
devia fazer o mesmo.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Margaret Bourdeaux - Physician, global health policy analystMargaret Bourdeaux investigates the best ways to protect, recover and reconstruct health systems and institutions disrupted by war or disaster.
Why you should listen
Margaret Ellis Bourdeaux, MD, MPH spearheads the Threatened Health Systems Project at Harvard Medical School -- an initiative that brings together public sector leaders, health care providers, academics, military strategists and private sector stakeholders to generate creative approaches to protecting valuable health system resources in countries affected by armed conflict and acute political crisis.
Bourdeaux's journey in global health began when she took a year of leave from Yale Medical School to work in refugee camps during the Kosovo War in 1999. She returned on her own after the war to trace families she had befriended in the camps and find out what had happened to them. Living in villages of Kosovo's countryside, she documented how these families struggled to care for their children, find health services and make a living in a society decimated by genocide and ethnic conflict. This experience impressed upon her the stark truth that war kills people by stripping them of their personal, community and national resources and institutions. Far more people died in Kosovo from the depleted health systems and institutions than from wounds sustained during the armed conflict.
Later experiences in Haiti, Afghanistan, Libya, Sierra Leon, Madagascar and Liberia revealed a similar pattern: armed conflict would decimate indigenous health institutions that never recovered, leaving people helpless when later crises -- earthquakes, epidemics, renewed conflict -- invariably struck. Strong, resilient health systems are the key to making war, disasters and epidemics less deadly.
After completing a joint residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the Harvard Combined Med/Peds Program, Bourdeaux was among the first graduates of Brigham and Women's Global Women's Health Fellowship. She has worked with the Office of the Secretary of Defense Policy to analyze the US Department of Defense’s global health projects and programs. She led a joint Harvard-NATO team of analysts to evaluate the impacts, challenges and opportunities international security forces have in protecting and rebuilding health systems in conflict affected states. She joined the faculty of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2011.
This year she was awarded the prestigious Harvard Global Health Institute's Burke Fellowship in Global Health to investigate the responsiveness of foreign aid to health system distress and disruption. She is co-developing the first executive education course between Harvard Medical School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government for senior security policy makers on health system threat detection and response. In addition, she is launching Harvard Global Health Institute's first Summit on Threatened Health Systems in June 2017.
Margaret Bourdeaux | Speaker | TED.com