TEHRAN — The International Congress on Health for Peace (ICHP) kicked off in the city of Shiraz on Tuesday in association with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Role of governments and national health systems in peace building, role of health professionals in the peace building, international cooperation on health for peace, and medical research and peace through health are being discussed over the course of the 3-day congress.

Human rights medical ethics  and  peace, networking of NGOs for health for peace, complex emergencies and health for peace, effects of wars and conflicts on health, health for peace in the Middle East, and medical education and peace are also among the topics of the event, IRNA reported. 

According to ICHP official website, in order to prevent or at least limit the adverse effects of wars, conflicts and violence which are strongly impacting the structure of communities involve and threatened, efforts must be exerted to reach out to parties who are involved and resolve disputes through transferring the sides’ views. 

Some individuals who can be trusted by the leaders of the parties are required to initiate contact with the parties involved at high levels. The medical community and the health professionals in general, have long been trusted by the public and the individuals of various societies, since they have been honestly doing their best to provide health and save lives. 

Hence, the past experiences have shown that if these groups of people come into operation with the aim of reducing violence and preventing conflicts, they would achieve this goal to a large extent. At the same time, unfortunately the efforts have been limited in this regard, remaining as theorizing or a scientific issue. 

Therefore, much more efforts by health professionals are required for peace-building globally and even within communities. “Health as a Bridge for Peace” organized by WHO, and also the efforts of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, and the United Nations have shown to some extent that this approach can be very successful in peace-building.

The international congress on “Health for Peace” is designed with the purpose of reinforcing health professionals' efforts for peace-building and peace policy discourse at a global level.

MQ/MG