Burden of Injury From Explosive Remnants of Conflict in Lao PDR and Cambodia

Abstract

In postconflict settings, a substantial number of injuries and related disabilities are caused by land mines and explosive remnants of war. This article reviews the literature on the prevalence of these injuries and subsequent disabilities in Cambodia and Lao PDR. Three major electronic databases were systematically for publications on the prevalence of these injuries. Six studies met the inclusion criteria. Five of these were in Cambodia and 1 in Lao PDR. None of these studies could estimate national prevalence rates of these injuries; only 2 considered the broader impact of related disabilities. The different methodological approaches and limitations of the studies prevented statistical synthesis. The studies reviewed suggested accurate estimates of the prevalence of war injuries and consequent disabilities are missing. There is a need for a comprehensive epidemiological research to quantify the burden that results from such injuries.

The effect of explosive remnants of war on global public health: a systematic mixed-studies review using narrative synthesis

“…2 The high prevalence of injuries and mortalities among economically active men is in line with findings from previous systematic reviews. 6,8 That scrap metal collection from landmine-contaminated or UXO-contaminated sites is income dependent and that UXO is more likely be handled in these sites than are landmines is pertinent for mine risk education, 67 particularly if the victim was injured handling a device that they knew was an explosive. The divergence between the highest and lowest case fatality ratios for those injured by landmines or UXO suggests that the results are localised, with factors such as ordnance type and concentration, time since conflict end, and accessibility of health care all playing a part.…”

“…A worrying finding is the number of children injured and killed by landmines or UXO, a finding in line with a previous systematic review. 6 Injury type is dependent on the type of ordnance causing the injury: landmines cause more injuries to the lower body and UXO cause more injuries to the upper body. Reverberating effects of landmines or UXO were wide ranging and included negative effects on internally displaced populations, physical security, economic productivity, child health and educational attainment, food security, and agriculture.…”

“…Previous systematic reviews [6][7][8] have focused on the incidence and prevalence of injuries and mortalities due to ERW in a small number of settings. They neglected the psychological effects on victims and the reverberating socioeconomic effects on the victims' families and wider communities.…”

Growing healthy children and communities: Children’s insights in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

“…Unexploded ordnance from the Second Indochina War (a.k.a. Vietnam War) (Durham & Hoy, 2013), unsafe road practices (Ichikawa, Nakahara, Phommachanh, Mayxay, & Kimura, 2013), and violent discipline (Save the Children, 2012) have also been documented and contribute to the increasing burden of injuries and disability.…”

A snapshot of intellectual disabilities in Lao PDR: Challenges for the development of services

“…While the conceptualization of and engagement with people with disabilities in Lao PDR has developed significantly over the past decade, there has been a traditional emphasis on physical disabilities caused by unexploded ordnance (UXO) and remnants from war (Thoresen et al, 2014). UXOs from the Vietnam, or Indochina, War are still killing and disabling hundreds of Laotians annually (Durham and Hoy, 2013; Durham et al, 2013; Morikawa et al, 1998). This has meant that other types of disabilities, including intellectual, receive far less attention.…”