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The profound effects of war and conflict on the health of survivors are a significant public health concern. lntra-ethnic conflicts have swept the world since the fall of the Berlin wall. States torn apathy ethnic cleansing or genocide have been forced to confront the suffering and disability caused by violence where perpetrators may be neighbors, colleagues or friends. Promoting health in its broadest sense is therefore an important challenge for the rebuilding of these countries. This paper argues that healthy psychological and physical functioning requires overcoming the hatred that pervades the relationships between ethnic groups and that, in turn, this depends upon seeing their recent enemies in human terms. Empathy serves as a normative ideal for a rehumanized view of the other. Importantly, this ideal of empathy is not achieved in an intense moment of sympathy, but in living together and genuinely attending to another's perspective over time. Such an understanding seems tolerable on the basis of genuine social cooperation.

Presents a reply by Phuong Pham and colleagues to a letter to the editor about their article "Trauma and PTSD symptoms in Rwanda: implications for attitudes toward justice and reconciliation."