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Abstract
Background Armed conflicts are likely to have implications for the welfare and safety of children, potentially leading to increased rates of unintentional childhood injuries.
Methods We examine data from Israel concerning the relationship between emergencies and childhood mortality due to unintentional injuries using the media-based database of Beterem Safe Kids Israel to analyse seven events: 2008 Gaza War, 2014 Gaza War, first COVID-19 Lockdown, second COVID-19 Lockdown (September 2020), third COVID-19 Lockdown (December 2020), 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis and 2023 Israel–Gaza War. These events are categorised into Emergency Periods (EPs) and Emergency Routine Periods (periods during which an emergency extends and normalises into a stable routine; ERPs). For each EP we selected a comparable Routine Period (RP).
Results Unintentional childhood mortality rates are lower during EPs, compared with RPs. Conversely, there is an increase in unintentional mortality rates during ERPs. EPs and ERPs occurring during armed conflicts exhibit higher unintentional mortality rates compared with health-related EPs and ERPs. Furthermore, military-related ERPs show higher unintentional mortality rates compared with the corresponding RPs. Unintentional mortality rates are notably higher among Arab children compared with Jewish children, particularly during ERPs. Unintentional childhood mortality also differs as a function of socioeconomic ranking, with widening gaps between municipalities of low socioeconomic ranking and municipalities of medium to high socioeconomic ranking, during EPs and ERPs.
Conclusions We hypothesise that parents’ emotional availability declines during EPs and ERPs associated with military conflicts, coinciding with socioeconomic aspects, impacting families’ well-being and children’s safety.
- Mortality
- Safe Community
- War/Conflict
- COVID-19
- Socioeconomic Status
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.
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Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.
Footnotes
Contributors AA conceptualised and designed the study. AA carried out the analyses, wrote the original draft of the manuscript, reviewed and edited the final manuscript and is guarantor for this work. YG and EC curated the database and verified the underlying data. All authors critically reviewed the manuscript, approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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