Monitoring mortality in fragile and conflict affected settings

Mortality and injury from conflict are major contributors to the global burden of disease, 1 but estimates of deaths and injuries are often incomplete or lacking.The Syrian conflict alone, for example, caused an estimated 306 887 civilian deaths between 2012 and 2022. 2 However, these figures do not include people dying indirectly from conflict because of a lack of health services, clean water, and food.Up-to-date data on deaths by sex, age group, and location are needed to guide public health strategies specific to conflict settings.These data inform planning to meet the health needs of the population, to assess how they are evolving over time, and to monitor the effectiveness of health interventions. 3 They also form the basis for a broader humanitarian response and enable the development of a historical record to support reparative justice and accountability for atrocities. 3Measurement, prediction, and prevention of conflict related deaths require collaboration between disciplines-notably demography, epidemiology, social science, human rights, and public health-to understand the conflict's root causes, to identify early warning signs of unrest, and to implement effective strategies for prevention and response.