Population trends related to injury from explosive munitions in Lao PDR (1964–2008): a retrospective analysis

Following violent conflict, the continued presence of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW)¹ including unexploded ordnance (UXO) poses a serious public health risk for populations living in conflict-affected and contaminated areas [1‐3]. Currently, more than 65 countries are thought to be contaminated, including Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Sudan [4]. While the number of reported deaths in post-conflict contexts has been steadily declining, the number of survivors has increased with an estimated 226,000–358,000 survivors in countries with significant ERW contamination, many of which are civilians [5]. However, these figures are likely to be underestimated as most injuries occur in low/lower-middle-income countries where injury surveillance systems are often inadequate and incomplete [6, 7].

Landmines, an explosive weapon designed to incapacitate or kill victims via pressure activation, trip wires or remote detonation, can be laid by hand, artillery or via aircraft, and typically result in catastrophic lower limb injuries [8]. Whilst landmines in South East Asia have long been associated with Cambodia, Lao PDR also has a significant history of landmine contamination with landmine-related casualties peaking during the Second Indo-China War (1964–1973) [9]. Today UXO, particularly cluster munition remnants, are the main cause of injury within the region, with Lao PDR thought to have one of the highest numbers of cluster munition casualties globally [10]. While cluster munitions have been used in armed conflict since 1943, and in more than 35 countries, including in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and Ukraine [11], the most extensive deployment of cluster munitions occurred during the second Indo-China conflict (1964–1973). During this period the United States of America dropped at least 1.5 million tonnes of ordnance over Lao PDR [9]. This ordnance consisted of primarily cluster munitions, an aerial bomb containing numerous explosive sub-munitions of which an estimated 80 million failed to detonate, resulting in approximately 8,470km² of ERW-contaminated land across Lao PDR [12, 13]. Most of the contamination within Lao PDR is in rural areas where 61% of the Lao population reside, reliant on subsistence agricultural practices [14].

Whilst injuries as a result of landmines have been highlighted within international literature, much less has been written about cluster munitions. Cluster munitions are either spherical or cylindrical shaped allowing them to release their explosive energy, and the subsequent particle wave, in a radiating manner [15]. This makes their mechanism of injury twofold: first, there is a blast and temperature wave, followed by a particle wave consisting of preformed shrapnel and the debris of the proximate environment [15]. Their design means they have no defusing mechanism, thus if they fail to detonate on impact they remain fused until physically triggered (i.e., by being hit or moved) [16]. When triggered, injuries can include traumatic amputation, traumatic brain injuries and multiple fragment wounds to the torso, hands and face [16‐20]. Secondary effects can include infections and auditory impairments such as tinnitus and deafness [19].

Landmines and ERW lie in close proximity to the surface, and when hit or moved in the course of routine agricultural or domestic activities may explode causing severe injury [21, 22]. Beyond individual casualty, landmines and ERW cause long-term socioeconomic effects. Disabilities arising from severe non-fatal injuries exacerbates poverty in an already vulnerable population, while contamination can act as a barrier to opening new land for agriculture and can prevent the development of basic infrastructure, including water, sanitation and essential services such as hospitals, health centres and schools [23].

Most reports on landmine and ERW injury use frequency measures. While these can provide valuable information, particularly in terms of detecting trends, on their own they provide policy-makers with a partial view of the problem. They do not, for example, give a picture of the proportion of people affected in a certain area, nor do they help to identify risk-factors. In this study, we examined the multivariable relationship between year of injury, activity at the time of the incident, case fatalities and casualty rates using data from a national, retrospective survey. This is significant, as the first study of this kind in Lao PDR it provides information for planning services and prevention.

The analysis reveals that most landmine and ERW injuries occurred during the war, and injuries remained high in the immediate post-conflict period as people returned to work on their land. This study aligns with a previously published analysis of this dataset which revealed that most casualties were male soldiers (45%) and farmers (35%) [9]. Fatal ERW injury decreased over time, and is likely to be due to improved access to health care in the post-conflict period.

The highest odds of death during the conflict period were associated with big bombs, which likely relates to the explosive force of these weapons. Landmine injuries were more common during the conflict phase (1964–1979), and it is likely that due to the severity of the injuries and limited access to appropriate care, most landmine fatalities were due to blood loss requiring immediate medical attention. Previously conducted research [9] highlights a number of other factors that may explain the high number of landmine casualties during this period: firstly, this device type may have included aerial dropped gravel mines which would be located in a similar, random spread to cluster munitions (UXO), secondly, landmines were used during ground battles and thirdly, it is likely an unknown number of respondents may have automatically stated the incident involved a landmine regardless of device type [9].

Post-conflict, gunshot wounds and suicide were associated with the highest odds of death, and may relate to the more deliberate actions of this form of explosive violence in comparison to activities such as collecting food or water, or playing that result in unintentional deaths and/or injuries. The higher incidence of warfare as a cause of death or injury post-conflict suggests some issues with the data, and it is unclear if the inclusion of warfare during this period is due to misclassification, ongoing low-level conflict, criminal activities, or reflects deaths due to historical injuries arising from the earlier conflict period. Furthermore, warfare was associated with a lower odds of death during the active conflict phase. It is unclear if this was due to an underreporting of these deaths, or that warfare-related injuries sustained during this period received some form of medical intervention that improved survivability, at least in the interim. Post conflict, bombies had the highest incidence rate for death or injury, which is unsurprising given the levels of cluster munitions contamination that has been established within Lao PDR [26].

This study shows variance between the provinces of Lao PDR with, for example, lower incidence rates recorded in Vientiane capital city and province. This is likely related to the geographical distance of Vientiane from areas heavily targeted during the war (e.g., Ho Chi Minh Trail), and the better accessibility of healthcare facilities in Vientiane compared to most of the provinces.

For the whole period included in the study, males had a higher incidence rate than females. This pattern has been documented in other contexts and relates to the gendered roles of males and females [1, 7, 27, 28]. Males typically play more active roles during conflicts and are more likely to remove UXO from areas where community members and womenfolk interact. The incidence of males experiencing death or injury during the conflict phase was 4.34 times greater than females in this study. Post conflict, males are more likely to deliberately move or try to defuse UXO, often in order to sell the metal casing for the scrap metal or fashion the metal into useful household implements, but also to make the environment safer for women and children [29, 30]. Despite often being seen as a common cause of post-conflict UXO injuries, when looked at in the post conflict period, collecting war scrap metal had the second lowest incidence rate [30]. This is probably because unlike subsistence farming activities, the collection of war scrap metal is largely seasonal and demand driven, and over time, scrap metal dealers may have learnt from experience strategies to mitigate risk when collecting remnants [29, 30].

The increase observed in non-fatal health outcomes has implications for medical and vocational rehabilitation needs and further research is warranted to better understand disabling conditions associated with ERW injuries. Further, while pressure activated landmines have been shown in adult populations to result in lower limb amputations, much less is known about on-going impairments and rehabilitation needs of UXO injuries [16] including other potential disabilities such as vision or hearing impairments [9].

No information was available related to length of stay in hospital which would provide an indication of health service costs and out-of-pocket health expenditure and lost production costs experienced by individuals and families. Both fatal and non-fatal injuries in the Lao PDR, however, can translate into significant livelihood vulnerabilities due to limited access to formal social insurance mechanisms. This is particularly pertinent in rural areas where most farmers maintain a subsistence or semi-subsistence lifestyle [31].

As with all studies, this study has some limitations. Firstly, the data we used were based on a retrospective population survey and we cannot discount the possibility that the survey failed to capture all casualties. Recall bias is of concern given in some cases the large time-lag between when the incident occurred and when the data was collected, and because in some cases the information on the incident was not collected from the casualty. Partly, because of this, the dataset also contained missing data that limited interpretation of the epidemiological patterns and risk factors for injury. In addition, we identified travel time to definitive medical care, and the provision of pre-hospital care, as likely to be important variables in determining injury outcome but were unable to include this in the regression models as these data were not collected in the survey. These limitations associated with the quality of the data are commonly found within low-resource environments, and were further compounded by issues including a lack of standardized spelling and translation, together with limited active injury surveillance meaning injury data is not prospectively captured. This highlights a need for injury surveillance systems to be implemented when mine action services are first initiated within a post-conflict context.

Nevertheless, the study had large coverage (95% of all villages in the country) and population-based studies provide more reliable information than health facility based studies because these represent the whole population rather than only those people who have sought health care. This is particularly important in resource-constrained environments such as the Lao PDR, where access to care in the case of traumatic injury is limited. Another limitation is that population figures were from 1985 and census data from 1995 meaning that the population denominators that was used in calculating rates were not necessarily accurate but was the earliest data available. Finally, the quality of the data did not allow for in-depth examination of the health consequences of ERW.

Cluster munitions continue to be used including in Iraq, Yemen and Syria and there is an urgent need for more research of the health impacts of these weapons including epidemiologic population-based surveys in affected areas [16]. There is also a need for enhanced reporting systems that coordinate with national health systems and integrate UXO injuries with broader efforts to improve injury surveillance systems [6]. In addition, health professionals and others should continue to advocate for full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

To conclude, landmine and ERW injuries have serious social and economic impact, and typically affect those who are already disadvantaged [7, 16, 17, 19, 32]. In Lao PDR, ERW, particularly cluster munitions, continue to pose a threat to human well-being and development long after the cessation of the conflict. Whilst further research is required to better document and understand the health and socio-economic consequences of landmine and ERW injuries, this study provides insight into the geographical regions and population subgroups experiencing elevated casualty numbers and odds of death. This information is vital for efficient and effective planning services that target those most vulnerable within Lao PDR. Furthermore, while injuries are decreasing, there is also a need for continued education, especially for civilians, on the dangers of landmines and ERW to help mitigate risk in affected communities.