Context: Following the 2021 military coup and ongoing armed conflicts in Myanmar, public health systems, especially in rural areas, have collapsed because of reduced workforce, limited resources, eroded trust, and the regime's priorities. In response, anti-junta healthcare providers innovated alternative approaches to address the needs. This study investigated the experiences and perspectives of these anti-junta healthcare providers and community members in Sagaing Region, focusing on major health issues, services provided, gaps, and challenges.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured online in-depth interviews with 25 healthcare providers and six community members in the region and analyzed thematically using a deductive-inductive approach.

Results: Major health problems included conflict-related injuries, infectious diseases (e.g., tuberculosis), non-communicable diseases (e.g., diabetes, hypertension), snakebite, and mental health problems. Usual government- and NGO-provided healthcare services are now limited to urban areas, with reduced functionality and for-profit private facilities serving as alternatives. In rural areas, anti-junta healthcare providers, newly emerged community-based health organizations, and local communities have established a network of hospitals, clinics, and mobile teams overseen by the Ministry of Health of the National Unity Government, which was established in opposition to the junta’s regime. They provide primary and emergency care to local communities, with limited secondary care options. Disease prevention services, especially childhood immunization, are scanty. Significant challenges include active warfare, the junta’s attack on healthcare, unsafe travel, limited medicines and facilities, inadequate health workforces, and financial constraints.

Conclusion and discussion: Compared to pre-coup, health status and healthcare in Sagaing Region are devastated. Challenges arise from warfare, safety concerns, and the junta’s control over transportation, communication, and resources. The junta’s regulations controlling NGOs, private healthcare facilities, and international aid agencies worsen the situation. To improve healthcare, negotiation through political dialogue is optimal. Unless the junta refrains from attacking healthcare, prohibiting aid transportation, and restricting international assistance, the situation will not improve. Conditions could improve if the National Unity Government Ministry of Health enhanced collaboration with local teams for better healthcare strategies. Conditions could improve if international stakeholders directly support local community-based health organizations, bypassing the junta. These findings extend to other conflict-affected areas in Myanmar despite diverse conflict situations.

The devastating war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia which started on October 3, 2020 has ended with cessation of hostilities agreement on Nov 3, 2022. However, the dire health impacts of the conflict especially those caused by the triple whammy, shelling and air bombing by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), weaponized siege and famine, are continuing to cause deaths and morbidity. While a systematic assessment of the evidence was not possible due to blackouts, accumulating reports show that the impacts on civilian’s health are devastating. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of these factors on civilian casualties and their geographic distribution.

We gathered data on all aerial strikes in non-war zones using a consecutive sampling technique from mid-June 2021 to mid-January 2022. Data were collected using a structured reporting format prepared for the purpose of morbidity and mortality records. Initially, we identified the locations where the strikes occurred and subsequently mapped them using geo-mapping techniques, utilizing coordinates for precise documentation. We then documented all victims from each site, presenting their frequency and percentage by geography, type of episode and demography.

During the study period 60 episodes (each having three or more shelling) occurred. Around 60 residential houses, four schools, and three hospitals were targets of the attacks. A total of 1097 civilian casualties were recorded, of which 32.0% were killed. Sadly, 89.0% of the victims were targeted while they were at their residential areas. Almost all the casualties of the indiscriminate bombings were civilians including an 8-month infant, 87-year elderly, and pregnant mothers. Pregnant and lactating constitute 45.4% of the total affected while children under 18 years constitute 28.2%.

The findings highlight the devastating impact of aerial bombings on civilian populations in the Tigray. The deliberate targeting of residential areas and essential health facilities underscores the indiscriminate nature of the attacks and violation of international law resulting in significant loss of life and injuries, particularly among vulnerable population groups such as women and children. We call for a collective action for the enforcement of existing international laws against weaponization of healthcare, food, and unlawful UAV attacks.

The heightened prevalence of armed conflict and warfare worldwide has exposed the inherent fragility of healthcare systems in conflict-affected regions, emphasizing the pressing need for robust healthcare infrastructure in such areas. The West Bank serves as a prime example where the provision of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services is increasingly jeopardized. Against this backdrop of geopolitical turmoil, a mixed-methods study was conducted to evaluate an innovative task-sharing and technology integration initiative aimed at fortifying the SRHR service framework in Area C of the West Bank.

This study examined a pilot training program for 20 healthcare professionals, 10 community health workers (CHWs) and 10 midwives, in the Obstetric Volume Sweep Imaging Protocol (ObVSI) utilizing point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in conjunction with teleguidance and social accompaniment. The program was founded on a dual objective: augmenting technical competencies and cultivating the soft skills requisite for promptly and accurately affording rural women critical access to healthcare and social services. The qualitative component involved 50 semi-structured interviews with health ecosystem stakeholders and focus group discussions conducted through WhatsApp and Zoom, subsequently subjected to thematic analysis. This framework facilitated a granular understanding of the intervention's acceptance, operational dynamics, and interplay with community ethos. The rigor of the research was maintained through methodical thematic analysis corroborated by inter-rater reliability checks.

The analysis indicated widespread community approval for the CHW and Midwife POCUS training program and provided an understanding of stakeholder perspectives. Emerging themes highlighted the program's potential to redress disenfranchisement, amplify diagnostic capabilities, and bolster patient-centric care. The cultural underpinnings of service acceptance, underscored by the local concept of sumud (steadfastness), emerged as a cornerstone of the initiative's efficacy. Furthermore, the model demonstrated strategic alignment with existing socio-political structures, thereby navigating and mitigating political exclusion. Beyond access to care, results indicated that the program could be useful for its capacity to enhance community engagement and social resilience, navigate political exclusion, and foster self-determination among participants. Despite the study's temporal and contextual constraints, the program demonstrated a viable blueprint for scalable SRHR interventions, adaptable to the evolving dynamics of conflict-affected settings.

The war in Ethiopia’s Tigray that happened from 3^rd November 2020 to 2^nd November 2022 is one of the deadliest and bloody wars that recently occurred in the globe. During the war, Tigray was under total siege, communication blackout, and utter travel restrictions. The Tigray's health system, which was relatively well organized and well-performing in Ethiopia before the war, has virtually collapsed. Provided the presumed resilience of researchers when exposed to challenging situations and crises, they are anticipated to predict uncertainties and manage crises. Nevertheless, there is very limited evidence that support these presumed capacities. This study explored health researchers’ challenges, resilience, and dilemmas during the Tigray War.

The study used a phenomenological study design. A total of 34 (29 male and 5 female) researchers participated in the study. We conducted in-depth interviews with the researchers. Deductive and inductive analysis were employed in combination. Atlas ti software was used to code and categorize the transcripts into themes.

Researchers expressed extensive challenges that they had to face and overcome in their work, as well as in their personal life. The researchers were ill-prepared and had less predicting capacity to the shocks that the Tigray war evoked in their lives and research work. Six themes came up as researchers’ dilemmas in this circumstance. The six themes are the ethical dilemmas in conducting research, the researchers’ role, existential questions, the researchers’ emotional trauma, the sensation of disowning Ethiopia as an identity, and the power of knowledge.

We are living in crisis era. There is a rise in civil wars. There are emerging crises because of natural disasters and pandemics like COVID-19. The dynamic and unprecedented surge of new warfare technological developments is also complicating the nature of wars, political conflicts, and civil unrest. Nevertheless, researchers tend to show indifference in the name of academic freedom and impartiality. This hypocrisy must be challenged and researchers must learn, show solidarity, and develop the agency to understand politics, war, and peace so that they can play their expected role of solving societal problems even in the most devastating crisis like the Tigray war.