[EQ] The Role of Civil Society in Promoting Health Equity

Civil Society Report - First Draft

World Health Organization - Commission on the Social Determinants of Health
June, 2007

 

Available online as PDf file [107p.] at: http://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/cs_rep_2_7.pdf

 

“……Various definitions of civil society have been attempted. The London School of Economics Centre for Civil Society working definition is illustrative14:
“Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values. In theory, its institutional forms are distinct from those of the state, family and market, though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. Civil society commonly embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality, autonomy and power. Civil societies are often populated by organisations such as registered charities, development nongovernmental organisations, community groups, women's organisations, faith-based organisations, professional associations, trade unions, self-help groups, social movements, business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups”.

….However, such conventional definitions of Civil Society do not seem to be able to capture the complex nature of Civil Society. A more rounded understanding of Civil society needs to take into account not only its variegated nature but also the fact that Civil Society operates in a contested space….”

 

Table of Contents

1. Civil Society and the Commission on Social Determinants of Health: Vision, Experiences and Values

                       1.1. Introduction: Historic Mission before the Commission

                 1.2. Two Imperatives for the Commission to Inform its Analysis and Recommendations

1.2.1 Remembering Alma Ata and the Primary Health Care Approach

1.2.2 Understanding the Role of Neoliberal Globalisation

    1.3 Civil Society’s Expectations of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health

    1.4 Locating Civil Society Roles, Actions and Concerns

1.4.1 What do we mean by Civil Society?

1.4.2 Role of Civil Society in Health

1.4.3 Civil Society Actions in Shaping Health Policies

1.4.4 Factors Shaping Civil Society Action and Knowledge

    1.5 Civil Society Values

1.5.1 Towards a Rights Based Approach to Health

1.5.2 Empowerment for Health

2. Civil Society’s Work with the CSDH

3. Civil Society Positions on Key Determinants

3.1 Globalisation

3.2 Health Systems and Approaches to Health Care

3.3 Gender Dimensions of Health

3.4 Employment Conditions

3.5 War and Militarisation

3.6 Nutrition and Food Security

3.7 Urbanisation, urban settings and health equity

4. Case Studies on CS Actions and Concerns on Social Determinants of Health

4.1 Revival of Maya medicine in Guatemala and Impact on Social and Political Recognition.

4.2 Health System in Cuba

4.3. The Brazilian Health Care System

4.4. The Impact of Conflict on Health

4.5 The contribution made by Women's and Feminist Movements to Equity in Health: the Chilean experience

4.6 Case Study Based on Focus Group Discussion with Sudanese Refugees in Egypt

4.7. Right to Health Care Campaign of the Peoples Health Movement

4.8 Adult Literacy in a Campaign Mode: The Total Literacy Campaign in India

4.9 Female Genital Mutilation in Sub Saharan Africa: Violation of Women’s rights.

4.10 How Conflict, War and Sexual Violence have affected Social Determinants of Health in the Democratic Republic of Congo

5. Conclusions

Annexure I: Existing Covenants Relating to Right to Health

Annexure II: Summary of Civil Society work with the CSDH in different regions

                              - Asian Region

                              - Latin America

                              - Eastern Mediterranean

 

Case studies on the role of civil society in promoting health equity

Health and autonomy: the case of Chiapas (in Mexico)
Cuevas JH. (2007) Full text (English) [pdf 153kb] | Full text (Spanish) [pdf 140kb]

Civil society participation in programme implementation for intersectoral action on health equity and intersectoral
action for health: a case study of the Health Civil Society Network in East and Southern Africa
Musuka G, Chingombe I. (2007) Full text [pdf 78kb]

The contribution made by women’s and feminist movements to equity in health: the Chilean experience
Nazarit PS. (2007) Full text (English) [pdf 173kb] | Full text (Spanish) [pdf 159kb]

Civil society and health system in Cuba
Ochoa FR, Visbal LA. (2007) Full text (English) [pdf 120kb] | Full text (Spanish) [pdf 110kb]

Revival of Maya medicine and impact for its social and political recognition (in Guatemala)
Peren HI. (2007) Full text (English) [pdf 147kb] | Full text (Spanish) [pdf 151kb]

Civil society promotion of equity and the social determinants of health through involvement in the
governance of health systems: the case of the Community Working Group on Health in Zimbabwe
Rusike I. (2007) Full text [pdf 77kb]

 

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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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[EQ] Shaping the world to illustrate inequalities in health

Shaping the world to illustrate inequalities in health

Danny Dorling, Anna Barford
Social and Spatial Inequalities Group, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, England
Bulletin of the World Health Organization  -Volume 85, Number 11, November 2007, 821-900

Available online at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/85/11/07-044131/en/index.html

“……Visualizing inequalities in health at the world scale is not easily achieved from tables of mortality rates. Maps that show rates using a colour scale often are less informative than many map-readers realize. For instance, a country with a very small land area receives less attention, whereas a large, sparsely populated area on a map is more obvious. Furthermore, unlike our visual ability to compare the lengths of bars in a chart, we do not have a natural aptitude for translating different colours or shades to the magnitudes they represent. Here we introduce another approach to mapping the world that can be useful for illustrating inequalities in health.

Where do you think most infants in the world are born, where do most die and how have these measures changed since 1970? A map of birth rates would not help you much, unless you had the kind of memory that could associate several hundred areas with counts of their populations of young women, and had the ability to perform some quick mental arithmetic of rate reciprocals. Nor would maps of death rates help much in answering these questions. Seeing the world shaped by how many babies are born in a year is a more reliable and rapid way of communicating these numbers….”

 

 

*      *      *     * 

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] Global Infectious Disease Surveillance and Detection: Assessing the Challenges

Global Infectious Disease Surveillance and Detection:
Assessing the Challenges – Finding Solutions, Workshop Summary

Forum on Microbial Threats, Stanley M. Lemon, Margaret A. Hamburg, P. Frederick Sparling, Eileen R.

Choffnes, and Alison Mack, Rapporteurs

Forum on Microbial Threats - Board on Global Health, 2007- US National Academy of Sciences

 

Available full text online at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11996

 

“…..Early detection is essential to the control of emerging, reemerging, and novel infectious diseases, whether naturally occurring or intentionally introduced. Containing the spread of such diseases in a profoundly interconnected world requires active vigilance for signs of an outbreak, rapid recognition of its presence, and diagnosis of its microbial cause, in addition to strategies and resources for an appropriate and efficient response. Although these actions are often viewed in terms of human public health, they also challenge the plant and animal health communities.

 

Currently, disease surveillance and detection relies heavily on the astute individual: the clinician, veterinarian, grower, livestock manager, or agricultural extension agent who notices atypical or suspicious symptoms and brings them to the attention of public health, veterinary medicine, or agricultural officials— including academicians and zoological parks. While most developed countries have a surveillance system in place and the ability to detect and diagnose human, animal, and plant diseases, many developing countries—where most of the global population resides—may not have the resources or infrastructure to support such activities. Under such circumstances, disease detection occurs on the local level and depends entirely on the early recognition of both known and novel infectious diseases.

 

Technological advances in disease surveillance and detection such as regional syndromic surveillance, bioinformatics, and new rapid diagnostic methods have

the potential to improve infectious disease control and prevention efforts. Further improvements are likely to result from ongoing innovations in infectious disease diagnostics, reporting, and surveillance. However, a number of challenges remain to be met before deployment of rapid, low-cost, sensitive, and specific point-ofcare disease diagnostics become a reality…..”

 

Content:

Summary and Assessment

1 Surveillance Strategies

2 Surveillance Networks

3 Detection and Diagnostics

4 Resource Needs and Opportunities

Appendix A Agenda

 

 

 

*      *      *     * 

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.