Terrorism, population health, and epidemiological dynamics in Nigeria: implications for public health

Abstract

Background: Terrorism is the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or force a government to act. It has become a growing trend in the global scene today in varying dimensions from hijacking, bombing, to state terrorism, bio-terrorism, cyber terrorism, eco-terrorism, nuclear, and narco-terrorism. All these disrupt population health with far reaching consequences. Objective: This study explored the dynamics of terrorism and public health in Nigeria. Methods: A narrative overview of relevant literatures was carried out. Literature search was carried out in PubMed, and Google Scholar. Information from previously published articles covering terrorism and public health was condensed to present a broad perspective and development. Only articles written in English Language carried out between 1999 and 2018 that clearly referred to terrorism, public health and diseases was used. Extracted information was discussed narratively. Results: A total of 1595 people died through terrorist attack in 2013 and 6118 in 2014. Immunization officers were killed in northern Nigeria in 2013. It leading to massive decline in immunization activities in northern Nigeria and contributed to the re-emergence of polio. In 2014, 662 terrorist attacks resulted in the death of 7512 people and 2246 were injured with varying degrees of disabilities. Many internally displaced peoples (IDP) fled to make shift camps with poor hygienic conditions with records of epidemics, psychosomatic conditions, malnutrition, overcrowding, and death. Conclusion: study suggests that terrorism deplete the general living condition of people and predispose them to varying levels of illness and diseases and ultimately disrupting public health status. Review, implementation of government policies, and equitable resource allocation could be utilized as preventive strategies