Child public health interventions for conflict-affected populations: A systematic review | PLOS Global Public Health

Children living through armed conflict are among the most vulnerable populations on earth, yet the evidence base guiding interventions to protect their health remains strikingly thin and this gap is highlighted in this piece.

Published in PLOS Global Public Health, this systematic review screened over 3,600 records spanning more than a decade of literature, ultimately identifying only 51 studies that met inclusion criteria: a number that speaks volumes about how neglected this field remains.

Beyond the sheer scarcity of evidence, the review exposes a deeper structural problem: the absence of consistent definitions and outcome frameworks across the field makes it extraordinarily difficult to compare findings, build cumulative knowledge, or design adequate policies for conflict-affected children. Nowhere is this gap more glaring than in paediatric neglected conditions such as tuberculosis: of all studies reviewed, only two addressed TB interventions in children, and neither reported outcome data. This near-total absence of evidence for one of the leading infectious killers of children in humanitarian settings is both alarming and actionable. By rigorously mapping what exists and what does not, this paper makes a critical contribution to the emerging discipline of Humanitarian Paediatrics, and lays the essential groundwork for a dedicated, larger-scale systematic review of paediatric TB interventions in conflict, resource-limited, and humanitarian settings. In a field where children have long been invisible in the data, this work insists they can no longer be.

Daniel Martinez Garcia 

Determinants of Nurturing Care Behaviours in Malawi: An Ethnographic Study - PMC

" In Malawi, where one in three children under five is stunted due to chronic malnutrition, understanding and addressing the drivers of malnutrition is a public health priority. This study goes beyond statistics to uncover the lived realities of mothers of young children in rural villages. By spending four days and nights embedded within households, researchers gained rare, first-hand insight into the daily struggles mothers face as they strive to nourish and care for their young children. The findings reveal how chronic poverty and food insecurity, recurrent climate and economic shocks, entrenched gender inequality, and limited access to quality health services, are affecting mother’s ability to provide adequate care during the critical first years of life. This research reinforces global and national recommendations for multi-sectoral action to address malnutrition and advance equitable health outcomes worldwide." 

Natalie Roschnik 

"Measuring what matters: key indicators for performance and resilience in fragile, low-income contexts. A scoping review"

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12961-025-01410-z

" This paper brings clarity to a complex area: how we measure health system performance and resilience in fragile, low income settings. By bringing together and organizing a wide range of existing indicators, the paper helps take stock of what is currently used, what is practical, and what is missing. This work supports an approach to more thoughtful measurement of resilience in places where strong, resilient health systems are most needed." 

Maisoon Elbukhari Ibrahim