[EQ] Big Cities Health Inventory

Big Cities Health Inventory (BCHI) - The Health of Urban USA

 

US National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Metro Forum. 2007

Available online as PDF file [150p.] at: http://www.naccho.org/topics/crosscutting/documents/BCHI07COLORFINAL.pdf

 

“…… a compendium of health status indicators produced in a comparative format for the 54 largest metropolitan areas in the United States.

Data on the health of our communities are probably more widely available at this time than at any point in the past. The Internet has become a vast repository of statistics on a variety health conditions. But less progress has been made in turning these raw data into usable information, especially for the nation's largest urban areas which face higher rates of poor health status and racial/ethnic disparities in illness and access to health care services.

 

Several key principles of public health practice depend on having reliable and current information regarding the health status of the community. The most obvious of these principles is evidence-based decision making and the core science of public health, epidemiology, is grounded in the collection and analysis of data.

Perhaps an even more fundamental principle is social justice and the recognition that eliminating health disparities is critical to improving the health of the overall population. For highly diverse urban populations, understanding the root causes of health disparities, including the synergistic interplay of social and environmental stressors that contribute to the erosion of resiliency in many of our nation's urban communities, is necessary to accomplish this goal….”

 

Content:

Introduction

Background

Selection of Indicators and Organization of the Report

Selected Analyses

Trends

Summary  
Section 1 Indicators by Gender, Ranked by City

Section 2 Indicators by Race/Ethnicity, Ranked by City

Section 3 Trends, Ranked Alphabetically by City

Section 4 City Profiles by Health Indicator

Section 5 Selected Socio-demographic Indicators, Ranked Alphabetically by City

Appendix

Technical Notes

Patrick Lenihan, PhD
Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago

 

 

 

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[EQ] The Future Control of Food

The Future Control of Food
A Guide to International Negotiations and Rules on Intellectual Property, Biodiversity and Food Security

Earthscan/IDRC 2008-ISBN 978-1-84407-429-7 Edited by Geoff Tansey and Tasmin Rajotte
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), 2008

Available online at: http://www.crdi.ca/en/ev-118094-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

“…..guide to the key issues of intellectual property and ownership, genetics, biodiversity, and food security. Proceeding from an introduction and overview of the issues, comprehensive chapters cover negotiations and instruments in the World Trade Organization, Convention on Biological Diversity, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, and various other international bodies.

The final part discusses civil society responses to relevant changes and developments in these issues, how they affect the direction of research and development, the nature of global negotiation processes and various alternative futures.

 

 

Content:

Part I. A Changing Food System
1. Food, Farming and Global Rules Geoff Tansey

Part II. The Key Global Negotiations and Agreements
2. Turning Plant Varieties into Intellectual Property: The UPOV Convention Graham Dutfield

3. Bringing Minimum Intellectual Property Standards into Agriculture: The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Pedro Roffe

4. Promoting and Extending the Reach of Intellectual Property: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Maria Julia Oliva

5. Safeguarding Biodiversity: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Susan Bragdon, Kathryn Garforth and John E. Haapala Jr

6. Giving Priority to the Commons: The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) Michael Halewood and Kent Nnadozie

7. The Negotiations Web: Complex Connections Tasmin Rajotte

Part III. Responses, Observations and Prospects
8. Responding to Change Heike Baumüller and Geoff Tansey

9. Postcards from International Negotiations Peter Drahos and Geoff Tansey

10. Global Rules, Local Needs Geoff Tansey

Notes
References

Appendix 1 – List of organizations 2
Appendix 2 – 23 international treaties administered by WIPO
Appendix 3 – A short history of the Annex I list
Glossary

 

 

 

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[EQ] Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance in The World

ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS DRUG RESISTANCE IN THE WORLD

Fourth Global Report

World Health Organization – February 2008 -  WHO/IUATLD Global Project on Anti-tuberculosis

Drug Resistance Surveillance -  WHO/HTM/TB/

 

Available online as PDF file [142p.] at: http://www.who.int/tb/publications/2008/drs_report4_26feb08.pdf

 

This is the fourth report of the WHO/IUATLD Global Project on Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance Surveillance. The three previous reports were published in 1997, 2000 and 2004 and included data from 35, 58 and 77 countries, respectively. This report includes drug susceptibility test (DST) results from 91,577 patients from 93 settings in 81 countries and 2 Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of China collected between 2002 and 2006, and representing over 35% of the global total of notified new smear-positive TB cases. It includes data from 33 countries that have never previously reported.

 

New data are available from the following high TB burden countries1: India, China, Russian Federation, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Philippines, Viet Nam, Tanzania, Thailand, and Myanmar. Between 1994 and 2007 a total of 138 settings in 114 countries and 2 SARs of China had reported data to the Global Project.

 

CONTENTS

Executive Summary

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2: Methods

Chapter 3: Results

Data reported to WHO between 2002 and 2007

New Cases

Previously treated cases

Non MDR rifampicin resistance

MDR-TB by WHO region

Age and Sex

Drug resistance and HIV

XDR-TB

Data reported to WHO from 1994 to 2007

Regional population weighted medians

Distribution of resistance within regions

Correlation of survey and routine surveillance data

Trends

Estimates

The Supranational Laboratory Network

Chapter 4: Discussion

Overview

Survey Methods

Magnitude and trends

XDR-TB

Drug resistance and HIV

Global estimates

The Supranational Reference Laboratory Network

WHO regions
Annex

 

 

 

 

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[EQ] Responding to Requests for Information on Health Systems from Policy Makers

Responding to Requests for Information on Health Systems from Policy Makers in Asian Countries

Judith Healy1, John Maxwell1, Phua Kai Hong2, Vivian Lin3 and collaborators

1. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

2. National University of Singapore

3. La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization, December 2007

 

Available online as PDF file [115p.] at: http://www.who.int/alliance-hpsr/TR1Healy.pdf

 

 

“……Policy makers in the Asian region, compared to those in Europe and OECD countries, generally have less access to relevant evidence-based information on the workings of their health systems. This study aimed to assess the level of interest in the establishment of an Asian regional mechanism, whether a centre or network, with the capacity to respond to questions from policy makers.

 

The purpose of a regional mechanism with the capacity to offer information on health systems would be to promote the take-up of research evidence by policy makers in participating Asian countries, and thus help strengthen their health systems and thereby improve the health of their populations…”

 

Contents

Executive Summary

1 Introduction

2 Health policy challenges in rapidly changing societies

3 Views on an Asian region information mechanism

4 Health systems information mechanisms: international overview

4.1 On-call evidence for policy-makers

4.2 Information centres and knowledge networks

4.3 Centres for systematic reviews

5 Information mechanisms: options for Asia

6 From ideas to action

Bibliography

 

 

 

 

 

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[EQ] Height, health, and inequality: the distribution of adult heights in India

Height, health, and inequality: the distribution of adult heights in India

 

 

Angus Deaton, Research Program in Development Studies

Center for Health and Wellbeing, Princeton University - January 2008

Forthcoming in the American Economic Review, papers and proceedings, May 2008

 

Available online as PDF file [15p.] at:
http://www.princeton.edu/~rpds/downloads/deaton_height_health_inequality_revised_ack_jan08.pdf

 

".......This paper explores the relationship between adult heights and the distribution of income across populations of individuals. There is a long literature that examines the relationship between mean adult heights and living standards.

If adult height is set by the balance between food intake and charges to disease in early childhood, it is informative about economic and epidemiological conditions in childhood. Because taller populations are better-off, more productive, and live longer, the relationship between childhood conditions and adult height has become an important focus in the study of the relationship between health and wealth.

Here I follow one of the tributaries of this main stream. A relationship between income and height at the individual level has implications for the effects of income inequality on the distribution of heights.

These relationships parallel, but are somewhat more concrete than, the various relationships between income inequality and health that have been debated in the economic and epidemiological literature..."

 

 

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[EQ] Overcoming Obstacles to Health

Overcoming Obstacles to Health

Report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the Commission to Build a Healthier America

February 2008

University of California, San Francisco Center on Social Disparities in Health

Paula Braveman, M.D., M.P.H. ; Susan Egerter, Ph.D.

Available online as PDF file [84p.] at: http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/obstaclestohealth.pdf

 

“……….Despite what many believe, a person's health is not only a product of good medical care and genes. In fact, in many cases, these may only be small pieces of a much larger puzzle.

Social and economic factors are keeping some Americans from being as healthy as they should be. Based on work conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), this report outlines in stark detail how a person's health and the likelihood of becoming sick and dying prematurely are greatly influenced by powerful social factors—such as levels of education, income and the quality of neighborhood environments.

This RWJF report describes the current health profile of Americans, looking specifically at how education, income, race and ethnicity play a role in Americans' health. This report:

·         Examines the roles of personal and societal responsibilities for health within the contexts in which people live, work and learn—which influence both the choices people have and their ability to make healthy choices.

·         Reviews evidence of the lasting impact that physical and social environments have on a child's health and on his or her chances of becoming a healthy adult.

·         Reveals new national evidence of differences in health across income and education groups, and how they relate to differences in health by race or ethnicity. 

·         Provides new evidence of the economic and human costs of differences in health, including the life stories of three American families who are trying to make healthy choices but face major obstacles. 

·         Offers a framework for finding solutions by applying current knowledge about the underlying causes of social disparities in health.

 

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Launches Commission to Look Beyond Medical Care System to Improve the Health of All Americans

February 28, 2008

http://www.rwjf.org/newsroom/newsreleasesdetail.jsp?productid=26672&typeid=160

 

The national, independent and nonpartisan health commission will focus on factors outside the health care system and identify non-medical, evidence-based strategies—both short- and long-term—to improve the health of all Americans. The group will investigate how factors, such as education, environment, income and housing, shape and affect personal behavioral choices through an extensive inquiry that will include regional field hearings. The commission members represent a diverse group of innovators and experts with the ability to cross traditional boundaries, mobilize partners to action and identify practical, timely solutions. 

 

The Commission to Build a Healthier America is based at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, D.C.
David R. Williams, M.P.H., Ph.D., a renowned social scientist and Norman Professor of Public Health and professor of African and African American Studies and Sociology, Harvard University, is the staff director of the commission.
The research team for the commission's work is headed by distinguished health researcher Paula Braveman, M.D., M.P.H., professor of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF.

 

Commission to Build A Healthier America Members

Mark B. McClellan
Director, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, the Brookings Institution and Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, the Brookings Institution

Alice M. Rivlin
Senior Fellow, Economic Studies Program, the Brookings Institution and Director, Greater Washington Research Program, the Brookings Institution
Visiting Professor at the Public Policy Institute of Georgetown University

Katherine Baicker
Professor of Health Economics, Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard University

Angela Glover Blackwell
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, PolicyLink

Sheila P. Burke
Faculty Research Fellow and Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Linda M. Dillman
Executive Vice President of Benefits and Risk Management, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Sen. Bill Frist
Schultz Visiting Professor of International Economic Policy, Princeton University

Allan Golston
U.S. Program President, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Kati Haycock
President, Education Trust

Hugh Panero
Co-Founder and Former President and Chief Executive Officer, XM Satellite Radio

Carole Simpson
Leader-in-Residence, Emerson College School of Communication
Former Anchor, ABC News

Dennis Rivera
Chair, SEIU Healthcare

Jim Towey
President, Saint Vincent College

Gail L. Warden
Professor, University of Michigan School of Public Health
President Emeritus, Henry Ford Health System

 

 

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[EQ] Us and Them - The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism

Us and Them - The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism

 

Jerry Z. Muller

From Foreign Affairs, March/April 2008

 

Available online at: http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20080301faessay87203-p0/jerry-z-muller/us-and-them.html

 

“………..ethnonationalism has played a more profound and lasting role in modern history than is commonly understood, and the processes that led to the dominance of the ethnonational state and the separation of ethnic groups in Europe are likely to reoccur elsewhere. Increased urbanization, literacy, and political mobilization; differences in the fertility rates and economic performance of various ethnic groups; and immigration will challenge the internal structure of states as well as their borders. Whether politically correct or not, ethnonationalism will continue to shape the world in the twenty-first century….”

 

“……Contemporary social scientists who write about nationalism tend to stress the contingent elements of group identity -- the extent to which national consciousness is culturally and politically manufactured by ideologists and politicians. They regularly invoke Benedict Anderson's concept of "imagined communities," as if demonstrating that nationalism is constructed will rob the concept of its power. It is true, of course, that ethnonational identity is never as natural or ineluctable as nationalists claim. Yet it would be a mistake to think that because nationalism is partly constructed it is therefore fragile or infinitely malleable. Ethnonationalism was not a chance detour in European history: it corresponds to some enduring propensities of the human spirit that are heightened by the process of modern state creation, it is a crucial source of both solidarity and enmity, and in one form or another, it will remain for many generations to come. One can only profit from facing it directly….”

 

 

 

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