Conflict, Health and Security

Over two billion people now live in insecure and conflicted-impacted settings. Today the total number of poor who live in fragile, conflict and violence-affected ecosystems surpasses those living in peace. For each country and region, conflict shapes both the human, development and health terrain in unique ways. It reshapes cultural norms, socio-economic capital and therapeutic geographies of health. It changes in both time and space, creating shifting, complex health mosaics. Conflict and insecurity are locked into wider issues of climate-change, demography and political economy. Resilience, mitigation and recovery of health and development in the context of conflict remains one of the world’s great challenges. The need for evidence and actionable intelligence to inform practise and policy for health and development across conflict landscapes is needed at every level, from nation-states to iNGO’s and the UN system.

At King’s we bring together a huge range of partnerships, real world experience and expertise spanning the civil-security spectrum of health and development. We are world leaders in studying a wide range of topics from the mental health of armed forces (King’s Centre for Military Health Research), through to cancer & palliative care (Cicely Saunders Institute & Institute of Cancer Policy) and unique domains such as global health security and intelligence (Centre for Conflict & Health and Centre for Science & Security Studies). We integrate the realpolitik of conflict studies and securitisation with health and development to provide unique educational offerings and research programs that have direct policy relevance to the international community.