Meet the Editor: Karl Blanchet
Published in Public Health
Congratulations on your recent co-Editor-in-Chief appointment for Conflict and Health! How do you plan to shape the editorial direction of the journal alongside Dr Fuhr?
The journal has been very influential in our field and has published quality research over the years. I remember when Prof. Bayard Roberts launched it when I was at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr Jonathan Polonsky and Dr Daniela Fuhr have done a fantastic job of taking the journal to the next level.
As co-Editor-in-Chief, I will be uniquely positioned to contribute to transforming the humanitarian system. This role will enable the advancement of evidence-based practice by influencing the publication of high-quality research that informs effective interventions in conflict and humanitarian settings. By aligning our efforts with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), we will work towards promoting health and well-being in conflict-affected regions and fostering resilient and inclusive societies.
I will try to shape the research agenda by directing the journal’s focus toward emerging and critical issues, such as health system resilience, refugee health, and complex emergencies. By highlighting these areas with Dr Daniela Fuhr, we will address knowledge gaps and foster innovation in humanitarian health strategies. This new role will also allow us to bridge the gap between academic research and field practice. As the Director of the Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies, we will promote the journal and facilitate the dissemination of research findings to policymakers, practitioners, and humanitarian organisations, ensuring that knowledge translates into actionable change.
How important is this journal in your field?
The journal serves as a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together researchers, health professionals, policymakers, and humanitarian actors. By fostering this dialogue, the journal promotes comprehensive approaches to humanitarian challenges that integrate public health, political science, and socio-economic perspectives. Additionally, through strategic editorials and themed issues, the journal can influence global health policies and humanitarian agendas, advocating for systemic changes that enhance the resilience of health systems in conflict-affected regions.
Which issues or topics would you want to emphasize and explore in Conflict and Health?
To transform the humanitarian system, we can leverage editorial influence to challenge existing paradigms by critically evaluating current practices and proposing evidence-based alternatives that are adaptive and context-sensitive, as highlighted by our CHH-Lancet Commission on Health, Conflict and Forced Displacement. We can advocate for localised solutions led by local actors, shifting away from traditional top-down humanitarian models. Through the journal, we can explore and promote new financing mechanisms and implementation models to enhance efficiency and impact.
Your final words.
I would like to promote research that uses systems thinking to capture the interdependencies that exist in humanitarian settings to develop more resilient and adaptive health systems. In the strategic use of the journal for thought leadership, knowledge dissemination, and advocacy, I will be well-positioned to influence the evolution and transformation of the humanitarian system, ensuring it becomes more responsive to the complex realities of global crises.
Rita is a Senior Publisher in the BMC Open Access Academic Journals team, managing a portfolio of journals in global and public health. She holds a Master’s in Publishing and Editing, and a BA in Languages, Literature, and Cultures.
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Conflict and Health
This is a highly-accessed, open access journal documenting the public health impacts and responses related to armed conflict, humanitarian crises and forced migration.
Related Collections
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Systematic Reviews in Conflict and Humanitarian Health
Armed conflict, humanitarian crises, and forced migration continue to pose profound challenges to public health systems worldwide. In these settings, evidence gaps are common, data collection is constrained by insecurity, and health needs evolve rapidly. Systematic reviews play an essential role in consolidating fragmented evidence, evaluating intervention effectiveness, and guiding policies and responses that can save lives in some of the world’s most vulnerable contexts.
This collection brings together high‑quality systematic reviews and evidence syntheses that advance understanding of the public health impacts of conflict and crises, and that evaluate strategies to improve health outcomes for affected populations. We welcome submissions addressing the full breadth of topics within Conflict and Health, including:
-Infectious disease prevention and control, outbreak preparedness, and surveillance in unstable or resource‑limited settings
-Nutrition, food security, and interventions to address undernutrition in crisis-affected populations
-Reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health in conflict and displacement
-Sexual and gender-based violence, its determinants, and response mechanisms
-Mental health and psychosocial support, including trauma, resilience, and service delivery models
-Non-communicable diseases in humanitarian and conflict settings
-Health systems and service delivery under conditions of fragility, disruption, or deliberate attack
-Ethical considerations related to health research, intervention design, and humanitarian practice in conflict-affected communities
This collection seeks to advance both scholarship and practice by championing evidence synthesis that drives equitable, ethical, and effective health interventions in conflict and humanitarian settings.
All submissions in this collection undergo the journal’s standard peer review process. As an open access publication, this journal levies an article processing fee (details here). We recognize that many key stakeholders may not have access to such resources and are committed to supporting participation in this issue wherever resources are a barrier. For more information about what support may be available, please visit OA funding and support, or email OAfundingpolicy@springernature.com or the Editor-in-Chief.
Publishing Model: Open Access
Deadline: Nov 10, 2026
Health, Conflict and Forced Displacement: reimagining the humanitarian system
Conflict and Health welcomes invited authors to submit an article to our new series, “Health, Conflict and Forced Displacement: reimagining the humanitarian system”– a collection emerging from the work produced by the CHH-Lancet Commission on Health, Conflict and Forced Displacement.
Humanitarian crises are becoming increasingly complex, characterized by repeated violations of International Humanitarian Law and shrinking space for effective response. At the same time, opportunities exist to create a more accountable, inclusive, and effective humanitarian system. Central to this effort are approaches that place local actors at the heart of the response, allocate funding based on need, implement evidence-based interventions, and harness technology. Equally important is ensuring that the voices of affected populations, including refugees, internally displaced persons, and communities living in conflict settings, inform decision-making.
This Collection welcomes primary research, methods papers, and reviews that advance knowledge and practice in reimagining the humanitarian system. Submissions may focus on the core drivers of humanitarian action such as governance, principles, financing, and technology (including artificial intelligence), as well as cross-cutting themes such as social determinants of health in humanitarian settings, protection and health of populations in situations of particular vulnerability, and localization and equitable partnerships.
Through this Collection, we aim to bring together diverse perspectives to critically examine and strengthen the future of humanitarian action with a focus on public health, ensuring that it is more responsive, just, and centered on those most affected by conflict and displacement.
Please note that this Collection does not accept submissions from uninvited authors.
All submissions in this collection undergo the journal’s standard peer review process. Similarly, all manuscripts authored by a Guest Editor(s) will be handled by the Editor-in-Chief. As an open access publication, this journal levies an article processing fee (details here). We recognize that many key stakeholders may not have access to such resources and are committed to supporting participation in this issue wherever resources are a barrier. For more information about what support may be available, please visit OA funding and support, or email OAfundingpolicy@springernature.com or the Editor-in-Chief.
Publishing Model: Open Access
Deadline: Jul 27, 2026
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