Abstract
Armed conflicts persist despite global peace efforts, driven by cultural, religious, and ethnic divisions. These conflicts significantly impact public health by exacerbating the spread of infectious diseases and disrupting essential healthcare systems. This study aimed to assess the complex relationship between conflict and the prevalence, transmission, and management of infectious diseases in the affected populations. This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to conduct a comprehensive search across five databases (EBSCO, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Google Scholar) focusing on publications from 2020 to 2024. The search centered on topics such as infectious diseases, epidemics, war, health infrastructure, and public health systems. Papers published in English were screened using the Rayyan™ tool (Rayyan Systems Inc., Cambridge, MA) to ensure relevance to infectious diseases and conflicts. Data analysis was carried out using RevMan software (The Cochrane Collaboration, London, UK), while the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was employed to evaluate the quality of the included studies. The results reveal that conflicts significantly disrupt healthcare systems, leading to an increased prevalence of diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH). Effective interventions, including improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions, targeted vaccination campaigns, and strengthened healthcare infrastructure, were critical in mitigating outbreaks. Despite methodological variations, the studies highlighted the multifaceted impact of conflict on public health. Conflict creates complex interdependencies between environmental, social, and health factors, worsening disease prevalence and management. In order to improve WASH conditions, prevent diseases, guarantee medication supply, and improve healthcare, coordination of efforts is essential. Future studies should examine community resiliency, socioeconomic determinants, and intervention evaluation.