Epidemics in conflict settings: From increased risks to effective response

What does it actually take to prevent, prepare for and react to epidemics when the assumptions built into most prevention and preparedness systems cannot be taken for granted? In conflict-affected settings, the capacity to detect outbreaks early is at its weakest, supply chains and logistics are put to the test, and negotiated access and local trust often determine whether a response can happen at all. 

Drawing on the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, caused by a strain with no approved vaccine or treatment, as well as on experience from other epidemics, this session will look at what has worked and what hasn’t. This session will examine how prevention, preparedness and reaction depend on each actor involved, where that link breaks down first in war zones, and what concrete lessons can be transferred to other contexts.