Evidence Aid bulletin: 2 November 2023

Welcome to Evidence Aid’s November 2023 bulletin. Within this month’s edition we highlight two recently published summaries, as well as a request for you to consider if you are a user of our resources. One of the highlighted summaries is a systematic review on the physical, emotional, and sexual violence against children following disasters caused by natural hazards, and the other considers the resilience of health systems in infectious disease outbreaks and natural hazards.

If you’re a user of our Resilient Health Systems collection, please would you complete a survey about your experience by 20 November 2023. This will take just 10 minutes. Your insights and opinions are incredibly valuable to us and will help inform development. If you have any questions or encounter any issues, please don’t hesitate to contact Epa La Bella at elabella@evidenceaid.org.

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Resilience of health systems to infectious disease outbreaks and natural disasters
In all disasters, health systems are imperative to good preparedness and response. As such, in this scoping review, the authors sought to identify consistent characteristics of health system resiliency, particularly during infectious disease outbreaks and disasters caused by natural hazards. They found that there are no recurring frameworks, although the themes included (but were not limited to) barriers around healthcare access, critical infrastructure/transportation, emergency financing, and collaborative and communicative partnerships. In addition to recognizing these themes, the authors noted that there should be further refinement of the concept of resilience.
Citation: Nuzzo JB, et al. What makes health systems resilient against infectious disease outbreaks and natural hazards? Results from a scoping review. BMC Public Health. 2019;19:1310.
You can find the full summary in the Resilient Health Systems collection.

Violence against children after disasters caused by natural hazards
In this systematic review, the authors sought to uncover the physical, emotional, and sexual violence impacts caused by disasters. They found no direct influence between the variables, however, they noted that violence against children is nonetheless both high and widespread. As such, social policies, including welfare and family support, community cohesion, and religion, are integral to protection policies.
Citation: Cerna-Turoff I, et al. Violence against children and natural disasters: A systematic review and meta-analysis of quantitative evidence. PLoS ONE. 2019;14(5):e0217719.
You can find the full summary in the Humanitarian impact of climate change collection.

Thank you very much for reading this month’s bulletin. As a final reminder, anyone who would like to receive these bulletins directly or has questions about our work should contact Jane Copsey (info@evidenceaid.org). And, as a donor-based organization, we appreciate your continued support. If you think our work is important, please donate here.

From,
Your Evidence Aid team