Skip to 0 minutes and 9 seconds JEN PALMER: Unprecedented numbers of people have been displaced by humanitarian crises, such as the ongoing armed conflict in Syria, devastating natural disasters like Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, and disease outbreaks such as Ebola. Humanitarian crises are a major and growing contributor to ill health and vulnerability worldwide. Their effects on health and health systems can undermine decades of social development and present a number of distinct challenges for public health interventions.
Skip to 0 minutes and 35 seconds KARL BLANCHET: My name is Karl Blanchet, and I’m the Lead Educator for the MOOC Health in Humanitarian Crises I’m also the Director of the Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Skip to 0 minutes and 48 seconds JEN PALMER: And I’m Jen Palmer, co-Lead Educator and Deputy Director of the Centre. The Centre is a group of more than 100 researchers here at LSHTM, many of whom have firsthand experience of delivering humanitarian programmes across the globe. We continue to work in partnership with national and international organisations, including United Nations agencies, civil society organisations, universities, and governments. Collectively, we carry out research and teaching with the aim of improving humanitarian practise and policies, ultimately to improve the health of people in humanitarian crises.
Skip to 1 minute and 21 seconds KARL BLANCHET: In this course, we will hear from a range of experts across disciplines, including epidemiology, anthropology, economics, health policy, and health systems. Using videos, articles, and discussions, we will ask, what are the key health needs in humanitarian crisis? How can we develop effective health responses in humanitarian settings? And how will we respond to humanitarian health needs in the future? The course is suitable for you if you are a healthcare practitioner or NGO coordinator, especially if you work in a low and middle-income country affected by humanitarian crisis. Also, if you are a student in health and development or have an interest in the challenges of delivering health care in a crisis setting.
Skip to 2 minutes and 13 seconds JEN PALMER: In the humanitarian world, we have recently seen strong commitment to coordinating crisis response through initiatives like the Sustainable Development Goals and the world’s first Humanitarian Summit. This work, and by extension our course, emphasises that we leave no one behind, and in particular, this means that people affected and disadvantaged by humanitarian crises.
