title: Strengthening the evidence base for health programming in humanitarian crises.
abstract: Given the growing scale and complexity of responses to humanitarian crises, it is important to develop a stronger evidence base for health interventions in such contexts. Humanitarian crises present unique challenges to rigorous and effective research, but there are substantial opportunities for scientific advance. Studies need to focus where the translation of evidence from noncrisis scenarios is not viable and on ethical ways of determining what happens in the absence of an intervention. Robust methodologies suited to crisis settings have to be developed and used to assess interventions with potential for delivery at scale. Strengthening research capacity in the low- to middle-income countries that are vulnerable to crises is also crucial.
authors.affiliation: Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ager
authors.affiliation: Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 615 North Wolfe Street, no. 5041, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Burnham
authors.affiliation: Save the Children UK, 1 St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Checchi
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gayer
authors.affiliation: Epicentre, 55 Rue Crozatier, 75012 Paris, France. rebecca.grais@epicentre.msf.org.
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Grais
authors.affiliation: Médecins Sans Frontières International, Rue Dupré 94/Dupréstraat 94, 1090 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henkens
authors.affiliation: Clinton Health Access Initiative, Monrovia, Liberia.
authors.forename: M B F
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Massaquoi
authors.affiliation: UNICEF, Wisma Metropolitan II, lantai 10, Jalan Jenderal Sudirman kavling 31, Jakarta 12920, Indonesia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nandy
authors.affiliation: Division of Global Health Protection, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Navarro-Colorado
authors.affiliation: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Case Postale 2500, CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spiegel
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D004190:Disasters; D064868:Ethnic Violence; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans