Document Type : Editorial
Authors
1
Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation, MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
2
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
3
HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
4
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
5
Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA
6
Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
7
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
8
Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
9
Modeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
10
Afghanistan Center for Health and Peace Studies (ACHPS), Geneva, Switzerland
11
Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia
12
Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
13
Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
14
Health Services Management Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
15
Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
16
School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
Abstract
The systematic destruction of academic infrastructure, termed scholasticide, has been normalised across the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) over more than two decades. The doctrine has operated through two coexisting modalities: the targeted assassination of individual scholars and the physical destruction of institutions, escalating in scale from selective killings and partial looting to the dismantling of entire academic systems. Drawing on evidence from several EMR countries, we describe a causal cascade through which acute military strikes and chronic structural exclusion, including sanctions, platform over-compliance, and visa barriers, produce generational health workforce depletion, disrupt core public health functions, and cause population-level health harms. We argue that academic institutions constitute a distinct, upstream structural determinant of population health whose destruction is an attack on health systems, not merely on education. We propose five categories of action, implemented through standing regional and international mechanisms, to protect academic infrastructure across the EMR whenever and wherever it is attacked.
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