DAMASCUS — Violence in war and conflict zones can drastically affect children mentally and physically. Syria provides a modern example of how violence affects child health.
Save the Children recently published a report detailing the effects of “invisible wounds” on Syria’s children. Save the Children’s Invisible Wounds Report emphasizes that the “psychological toll of living through six years of not knowing if this day will be their last is enormous.”
Toxic Stress
Their research found an increase in “toxic stress” among children in Syria. Toxic stress is “the most dangerous form of stress response that can occur when children experience strong, frequent or prolonged adversity without adequate adult support.” This stress has immediate and detrimental effects such as bedwetting, self-harm and suicide attempts. It can also lead to developmental delays and other permanent physical and mental health problems including diabetes, heart disease, immune system problems, substance abuse, and depression.
Surveys conclude that constant bombing is the number one cause of stress among children.
Lack of Education
The lack of education also increases feelings of hopelessness and depression. Additionally, the majority of children who do attend school do not feel safe there.
These surveys also find that domestic violence has increased since the beginning of the war. Many children do not have a place to go or a person to talk to when feeling sad or scared.
Healthcare and Sanitation
Additionally, inadequate healthcare and sanitation as a result of conflict affects children’s physical health. Crippling healthcare systems and lack of immunizations often result in outbreaks of preventable diseases such as measles and polio. During the most recent polio outbreak, at least 17 children in eastern Syria became paralyzed. This is the second outbreak since the beginning of the war. The first occurred in 2013 and paralyzed 36 children.
WHO confirms that the oral vaccine caused the outbreak. Unlike injectable vaccines, oral vaccines carry a form of the weakened virus. The virus ends up in the waste of vaccinated children and can mutate over time, becoming harmful to the many unvaccinated children living with poor sanitation.
A WHO spokesman announced the need to vaccinate more than 400,000 children at the source of the outbreak in the Deir al-Zour area.
War in Yemen
Similarly, the war in Yemen has collapsed their health care system and left many with poor sanitation and dwindling medical treatment options. The cholera outbreak, one of the worst outbreaks of cholera in the world, is another example of how violence affects child health. The country has reported 1,500 dead and quickly counting. About 25 percent are children.
But, as emphasized by Save the Children, it is not too late. Programs and advocacy have the potential to greatly benefit subsequent generations.
Save the Children
Save the Children provides psychosocial and mental health support through programs such as HEART (Healing and Education through the Arts for children) and Child Resilience. These programs occur in 10 of Syria’s 14 governorates (states) and in countries hosting refugees.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative has helped many living in regions with political instability. They are often involved in negotiating ceasefires in order to provide vaccinations to children.
WHO and UNICEF also continue to provide aid to countries like Syria and Yemen. For example, in March 2015, WHO helped supply three million children under the age of five in Syria with polio vaccinations. With support such as this, the future for Syrian children will hopefully be infinitely brighter.
– Francesca Montalto
Photo: Flickr