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Health professionals from Zambia and Austria conducted a low-cost intervention in Lusaka, Zambia, intended to improve care outcomes for victims of interpersonal violence (IPEV). It was designed to build on existing health and social services infrastructures. During 1 year, 174 victims of IPEV seen at the Lusaka University Hospital emergency room were interviewed by medical students. An intervention included training for medical and social service personnel and distribution at key locations of printed materials on services available to IPEV victims. Postintervention data analysis revealed that victims of IPEV had improved understanding of available social services, and victims’ confidence was increased about receiving additional help and articulating health concerns. Other benefits: improved visibility, networking among partner organisations; new descriptive data about IPEV victims; improved cross-cultural understanding among medical participants. Recommendation: low-cost interventions should continue to be explored to improve care for victims of IPEV in resource-poor settings.

Background Violence is a leading worldwide public health problem and obstructs achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. 90% of the global burden of violence and injury mortality occurs in low-income and middle-income countries. 35% of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. In Zambia, gender-based violence against women and girls is widespread, with >50% of women reporting some form of abuse. Methods Health professionals from Zambia and Austria conducted a low-cost intervention in Lusaka, Zambia, intended to improve care outcomes for victims of interpersonal violence (IPEV). It was designed to build on existing health and social services infrastructures. During 1 year, 174 victims of IPEV seen at the Lusaka University Hospital emergency room were interviewed. An intervention included training for medical and social service personnel and distribution at key locations of printed materials on services available to IPEV victims. Results Postintervention data analysis revealed that victims of IPEV had improved understanding of available social services, and victims’ confidence was increased about receiving additional help and articulating health concerns. Other benefits: improved visibility, networking among partner organisations; new descriptive data about IPEV victims; improved cross-cultural understanding among medical participants. Conclusions Low-cost interventions may improve care for victims of violence in resource-poor settings. Improved cooperation among social service and medical providers may improve care for victims of IPEV and also benefit agencies through strengthened relationships and flow of information. North–South cooperation should be encouraged at the institutional level. Profiles of victims contribute to global data on violence. Recommendation: low-cost interventions should continue to be explored to improve care for victims of IPEV in resource-poor settings.

Background Disarmament and war prevention are now widely perceived as humanitarian goals by governments and non-governmental organisations alike. In recent years, “humanitarian disarmament” campaigns have taken on some of the world’s worst weapons, including landmines, cluster munitions, small arms, drones, and nuclear weapons. Description of the problem An evidence-based awareness of the impact of war and all forms of armed violence on public health, documented by health professionals in hospitals and emergency rooms and conveyed through the stories of the victims and their ravaged communities, has catalysed successful campaigns to prohibit the most inhumane weapons and to impose strict new limits on trafficking in others. While the term is relatively new, humanitarian disarmament has been at the heart of health-based organisations’ efforts such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War’s work for decades. For example, the medical evidence that nuclear war would be a humanitarian catastrophe to which physicians could organise no meaningful response helped mobilise the international community towards a nuclear test ban and non-proliferation. Results The health facts about nuclear weapons and the devastation they cause have become the foundation of a Humanitarian Pledge to “stigmatise, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons” that, at this writing, has been joined by 117 countries. The human consequences of armed violence has been a central concept in achieving landmark treaties and agreements on conventional weapons including the Mine Ban Treaty, the United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons, the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Arms Trade Treaty. Conclusions Health organisations and agencies have a key role to play in bringing the humanitarian perspective to the development and implementation of policy instruments and agreements designed to prevent armed violence.

Background In Zambia, gender-based violence (GBV) is on the rise, with one in five women having experienced sexual violence, and domestic violence frequently reported. Zambia has been working to tackle this. At the 66th World Health Assembly Zambia was one of seven countries that introduced a resolution on violence against women and girls and has also introduced national policies on GBV. Methods A prospective study that was premised on pilot phase that compared a period prior to an intervention with another period following an intervention to study challenges to addressing GBV in Zambia include effective implementation, limited financial and human resources, and lack of public awareness. Health professionals from Zambia and Austria collaborated to design a research and education project to address these issues and improve care outcomes for victims of interpersonal violence (IPEV). It was designed to build on existing health and social services infrastructures, improve networking among medical and social services, and below-cost. The intervention included training for medical and social service personnel and distribution at key locations of information on services available to IPEV victims. Results Capitalising on existing resources, linking local services, and developing a low-cost intervention kept costs down in resource poor Zambia, where the annual government per capita health expenditure is US$32 or about 11% of the annual national budget. Sustainability was encouraged by engaging local partners. Results: victims of IPEV had improved understanding of available social services; improved networking among partner organisations; new descriptive data about victims, and; for medical participants, improved cross-cultural understanding. Conclusions Low-cost interventions may improve care for victims of violence in resource-poor settings. Improved cooperation among social service and medical providers may benefit victims of IPEV and also agencies through strengthened relationships and information flow. North–South cooperation should be encouraged at the institutional level.

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) made seeking practical, internationally agreed responses to the global drug and arms trade one of nine priority recommendations in its 2002 World Report on Violence and Health. “Even modest progress on either front would contribute to reducing the amount and degree of violence suffered by millions of people, ” states WHO . A number of health organizations have taken a leadership role in bringing an evidence-based perspective to discussions on the global arms trade, including such initiatives as the Arms Trade Treaty, and the United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons. Purpose To identify and describe key health contributions to the discussion and negotiation of international agreements to prevent armed violence. Methods Review contributions of organizations including the International Committee of the Red Cross, the WHO Violence Prevention Alliance, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and the American Public Health Association. Results Medical and public health organizations are playing a vital role in strengthening arguments for global arms control treaties and agreements by: Quantifying the health and humanitarian costs of armed violence; contributing case studies on the context and societal consequences of firearm violence; describing how health professionals can help monitor agreements; outlining best practices for victim assistance, and; by using their medical platforms to educate decision makers about armed violence prevention as essential to community health and development. Significance This paper provides rationale for health professionals to continue and increase their participation in policy debates on arms control issues.