The devastating impact of armed conflict on child health is well recognised. It is estimated that one in nine children worldwide lives in an area of armed conflict. As health professionals, we need to look at prevention.
The sums spent on military expenditure are colossal and are beyond the comprehension of most people. In 2019, world military expenditure was estimated to have been US$1,917 billion by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. That is $250 for every person on the planet.
It has been estimated that the cost of funding the Sustainable Development Goals is $195 per person, ie they can be fully funded from military expenditure alone.
The arms race is unsustainable. The arms trade is thought to account for 40% of all corruption in global trade.
The USA accounted for more than one third of global military expenditure (US$732 billion). The US does not have universal health care for children or pregnant women. It also has higher child mortality rates than neighbouring Canada and Cuba.
India spends more on military than health, despite high child mortality rates.
As health professionals, we need to campaign for reduced military expenditure and diversification of the arms manufacturers.
See
Arms sales and child health<https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/forward/emailref?path=node/2168>
http://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/4/1/e000809
<https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/bmjpo/3/1/e000573.full.pdf>
Best wishes, Imti
CHIFA Profile: Imti Choonara is a Professor in Child Health at the University of Nottingham, UK. Professional interests: Paediatric clinical pharmacology and international child health with an interest in access to medicines and treatment of epilepsy. Also he has strong links with Cuba. imti.choonara AT nottingham.ac.uk
