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Healing Communities in Crisis: Public Health, Hunger, and Preparedness in Conflict Settings

2025-12-30

In this second part of our conversation with Dr Fekri Dureab, physician-researcher at the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, we move from surveillance systems and misinformation to some of the most difficult questions in public health: hunger, disease preparedness, and ethical decision-making in conflict settings.Drawing on his work in Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq, Dr Dureab explains why planning for outbreaks in fragile health systems is never just a technical exercise. Even when strategies exist on paper, a lack...

In this second part of our conversation with Dr Fekri Dureab, physician-researcher at the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, we move from surveillance systems and misinformation to some of the most difficult questions in public health: hunger, disease preparedness, and ethical decision-making in conflict settings.

Drawing on his work in Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq, Dr Dureab explains why planning for outbreaks in fragile health systems is never just a technical exercise. Even when strategies exist on paper, a lack of resources, infrastructure, and trained personnel can turn predictable health threats—such as cholera or measles—into full-blown crises. He reflects on his role in developing Yemen’s electronic disease early-warning system and why speed, simplicity, and local ownership can mean the difference between containment and catastrophe.

The conversation then turns to malnutrition and food insecurity, exposing the ethical dilemmas that arise when humanitarian aid meets chronic poverty. Through powerful field examples, Dr Dureab illustrates how short-term food assistance can unintentionally create harmful incentives, and why long-term, nationally supported food-security systems are essential for protecting children’s health and dignity.

Throughout the episode, one theme remains constant: sustainable solutions come from within communities. From training local health workers to strengthening national systems, Dr Dureab makes the case that public health is inseparable from human rights—and that awareness-raising is itself a form of action.

What will you learn?

Why outbreak preparedness in conflict zones often fails despite early warnings.
How electronic surveillance systems can function even with weak internet and ongoing violence.
The ethical dilemmas of food aid and why treating malnutrition alone is not enough.
What Iraq’s long-standing food-ration system reveals about preventing undernutrition during conflict.
How individuals outside the health sector can still contribute by raising awareness and amplifying lived realities.

🧠 Topics Covered

Disease preparedness in fragile and conflict-affected health systems
Early-warning systems and rapid response in low-resource settings
Capacity building and training local health professionals
Malnutrition, hunger, and ethical dilemmas in humanitarian aid
National food-security systems vs. emergency assistance
Public awareness as a tool for advancing health and human rights

👤 About the Guest

Dr Fekri Dureab – Medical doctor, PhD, and public-health researcher at the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health. His work focuses on health-systems strengthening, epidemic preparedness, nutrition, and disease surveillance in fragile and conflict-affected settings, including Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq. He has played a key role in developing Yemen’s electronic disease early-warning system and coordinating nutrition and emergency health programmes with the WHO.

📚 Resources & Links