Monday, October 29, 2007

[EQ] Why Epidemiologists Cannot Afford to Ignore Poverty

 

November 2007, Volume 18, Issue 6

EPIDEMIOLOGY - peer-reviewed scientific journal

 

Epidemiology  participated in the Global Theme
 Issue on Poverty and Human Development;
see the November 2007 issue

 

                URL: : http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/globalthemeissue.cfm

This was an international collaboration of 235 journals from developed and developing countries.

These 235 journals from 37 countries are publishing more than 750 articles on poverty and human development (see below for the list of participating journals and articles). The journals and the articles represent all regions of the world and specifically include the following 87 countries: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Sudan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Please direct any questions or requests for additional information to the attention of Annette Flanagin at annette.flanagin@jama-archives.org.

 

Content of Epidemiology special Issue: November 2007, Volume 18, Issue 6

URL:
http://www.epidem.com/pt/re/epidemiology/currenttoc.htm;jsessionid=HmHH16TM4jKB6yT1LvbvVjc7wLTgRt23Mt0gpL2hpbhW0sSm9KCT!-44457381!181195629!8091!-1

 

 

The Millennium Development Goals: A Challenge to Epidemiologists

Margaret F. McCann

 

 

Why Epidemiologists Cannot Afford to Ignore Poverty.

Nancy Krieger


Abstract:

Epidemiologists cannot afford to ignore poverty. To do so would, first, wrongly obscure the devastating impact of poverty on population health, and, second, undercut our commitment to scientific rigor. At issue is doing correct science, not "politically correct" science. Blot poverty and inequity from view, and not only will we contribute to making suffering invisible but our understanding of disease etiology and distribution will be marred. To make this case, I address current debates about the causal relationships between poverty and health, and provide examples of how failing to consider the impact of socioeconomic position has biased epidemiologic knowledge and harmed the public's health. By definition, the people we study are simultaneously social beings and biologic organisms-and we cannot study the latter without taking into account the former. It is the responsibility of all epidemiologists, and not only social epidemiologists, to keep in mind the connections between poverty and health.

 

 

Poverty, Environment, and Health: The Role of Environmental Epidemiology and Environmental Epidemiologists.

Marie S. O'Neill; Anthony J. McMichael; Joel Schwartz; Daniel Wartenberg

International attention is focusing increasingly on environmental concerns, from global warming and extreme weather to persistent chemical pollutants that affect our food supplies, health and well-being. These environmental exposures disproportionately affect the poor and those residing in developing countries, and may partly explain the persistent social gradients in health that exist within and between nations. We support recent calls for environmental epidemiologists to play a more active role in furthering the global agenda for sustainability, environmental health and equity. We further suggest that the discipline of environmental epidemiology, as well as relevant funding agencies, broaden their focus to include rigorous research on the upstream, larger-scale societal factors that contribute to inequitable patterns of exposure and health outcomes. By widening the scope of our vision and increasing the strength and breadth of the evidence base about how poverty and environment together affect health, we can better participate in efforts to promote social justice and responsible use and protection of the environment, and thus reduce health inequities. That is both a primary mode and rationale for achieving sustainability.

 

 

Measuring Progress Towards Equitable Child Survival: Where are the Epidemiologists?

Cesar G. Victora

The fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is to achieve a two-thirds reduction in the mortality of under the age of 5 years children between 1990 and 2015. Only 7 of the 60 priority countries are currently on track towards the goal, and intensified efforts are required both globally and nationally. Tackling inequities is essential for reaching this goal, because children from poor families are consistently at higher risk of dying. Efforts should be concentrated on achieving high and equitable coverage with low-cost, effective, off-the-shelf interventions, and on monitoring progress among different social groups. Measuring inequities in mortality, morbidity, nutritional status, and coverage, however, is fraught with methodologic difficulties in countries where routine statistics are unreliable-a group that includes all high-mortality countries. Key methodologic challenges are discussed, with arguments for greater involvement of epidemiologists in measurement exercise that so far has been led by demographers, statisticians, and economists.

 

 

Armed Conflict and Poverty in Central America: The Convergence of Epidemiology and Human Rights Advocacy.

Paula E. Brentlinger; Miguel A. Hernán

Several armed conflicts took place in Central America during the last 3 decades of the 20th century. In this commentary, we discuss (1) studies describing the interrelationships among health, violence, and poverty during and after these conflicts and (2) some important lessons learned from these studies. We hope that those lessons help epidemiologists and others who must confront, and describe, similar situations elsewhere.

Depressive Symptoms in Low-Income Women in Rural Mexico.

Nancy L. Fleischer; Lia C. Fernald; Alan E. Hubbard

This paper reports a cross-sectional analysis of demographic, socioeconomic, physical, and psychosocial factors associated with depressive symptoms among poor women in rural Mexico.

Air Pollution, Social Deprivation, and Mortality: A Multilevel Cohort Study.

Øyvind Næss; Fredrik N. Piro; Per Nafstad; George Davey Smith; Alastair H. Leyland

“…..is becoming increasingly evident that exposure to air pollution and its adverse effects are not equitably distributed. Our goal was to investigate the role of social deprivation in explaining the effect of neighborhood differences in level of air pollution fine particulates (PM2.5) on mortality when the indicators of social deprivation are measured at both individual level and at neighborhood level….”

 

 

 *      *      *     * 

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ IKM Area] 

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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EQUITY List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

 

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.  

[EQ] Developing a Tool to Measure Knowledge Exchange Outcomes

Developing a Tool to Measure Knowledge Exchange Outcomes

 

Kelly Skinner, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario

The Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation Vol. 22 No. 1 – 2007-10-29

 

Available online as PDF file [25p.] at: http://www.phr.uwaterloo.ca/pubs/169-public-2007-10-03-329391.pdf

 

“….This article describes the process of developing measures to assess knowledge exchange outcomes using the dissemination of a best practices in type 2 diabetes document as a specifi c example. A best practices model consists of knowledge synthesis, knowledge exchange (dissemination/adoption), and evaluation stages. Best practices are required at each stage. An extensive literature review found no previous knowledge syntheses of concrete tools and models for evaluating dissemination or exchange strategies.

 

This project developed a practical and usable tool to measure the reach and uptake of disseminated innovations. The instrument itself facilitates an opportunity for knowledge exchange to occur between producers and adopters. At this point the tool has a strong theoretical basis. Initial pilot-testing has begun; however, the accumulation of evidence of validity and reliability is only in the planning stages. The instrument described here can be adapted to other areas of population health and evaluation research….”

 

 *      *      *     * 

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ IKM Area] 

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PAHO/WHO Website: http://www.paho.org/

EQUITY List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

 

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.  

[EQ] Do I See a Demand?... from Medicare to Health for All

Do I See a Demand?... from “Medicare” to Health for All

 

Vol. 37, Issue 3, Oct 2007, Page 15 2007 Optimum Online

Hon. Monique Bégin, PC, FRSC, OC

 

Available online at: http://www.optimumonline.ca/article.phtml?id=284

Free subscription required

 

This article by Hon. Monique Bégin is a critical appraisal of what has been accomplished over the last 30 years: what went wrong and what may be repaired by focusing on social determinants of health. The aim is to identify and analyze Canadian initiatives with a view to assessing what has happened on the national scene since the Lalonde Report “A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians”.

 

“…In this presentation, I situate myself outside the world of health promotion and education, where other health professionals find themselves, and where the general public is. I do not speak from within. Again, I apologize for undertaking this critical appraisal and would not want to be unfair, thinking of all those whose admirable daily struggles deal with health promotion – those who have kept it alive through the years. …”  (au)

 

 *      *      *     * 

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ IKM Area] 

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PAHO/WHO Website: http://www.paho.org/

EQUITY List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

 

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.