Monday, August 4, 2008

[EQ] Using human rights to improve maternal and neonatal health: history, connections and a proposed practical approach

Using human rights to improve maternal and neonatal health:
history, connections and a proposed practical approach

Sofia Gruskin ^a, Jane Cottingham ^b, Adriane Martin Hilber ^c, Eszter Kismodi ^b, Ornella Lincetto ^b, Mindy Jane Roseman ^da Program on International Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA, USA
b World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
c University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland.
d Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Bulletin of the World Health Organization Volume 86, Number 8, August 2008, 577-656

Available online at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/8/07-050500.pdf

“……We describe the historical development of how maternal and neonatal mortality in the developing world came to be seen as a public-health concern, a human rights concern, and ultimately as both, leading to the development of approaches using human rights concepts and methods to advance maternal and neonatal health. We describe the different contributions of the international community, women’s health advocates and human rights activists.

We briefly present a recent effort, developed by WHO with the Harvard Program on International Health and Human Rights, that applies a human rights framework to reinforce current efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality…..”

WHO 60th anniversary commemorative volume

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Volume 86, Number 8, August 2008

Website: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/8/08-000808/en/index.html

This month’s special theme is ethics and public health. In the first editorial, Carl H Coleman et al. (578) discuss the key issues in public-health ethics and how WHO incorporates ethics into its mission. In the second, John Krebs (579) presents the ethical dilemma involved in balancing individual rights with government intervention. In the third, Cristina P Pinheiro (580) questions the ethics of drug donations and proposes alternative aid solutions.

In an interview, Mary Robinson (587–588), former President of Ireland and ex-United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, talks about the need for a more ethical approach to health policy worldwide. To complement the theme of this month’s issue, John R Williams (650–652) looks at the Declaration of Helsinki – a set of principles guiding medical and scientific research – and how it has evolved over time.

EDITORIALS

The contribution of ethics to public health
- Carl H Coleman et al.
doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.055954
Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 131kb]

The importance of public-health ethics
- John Krebs
doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.052431
Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 84kb]

Drug donations: what lies beneath
- Cristina P Pinheiro
doi: 10.2471/BLT.07.048546
Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 111kb]

POLICY AND PRACTICE

Using human rights to improve maternal and neonatal health: history, connections and a proposed practical approach
- Sofia Gruskin et al.
doi: 10.2471/BLT.07.050500
Abstract [HTML] | Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 391kb]

Herbal medicine research and global health: an ethical analysis
- Jon C Tilburt & Ted J Kaptchuk
doi: 10.2471/BLT.07.042820
Abstract [HTML] | Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 479kb]

Denaturalizing scarcity: a strategy of enquiry for public-health ethics
- Ted Schrecker
doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.050880
Abstract [HTML] | Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 508kb]

Integrating ethics, health policy and health systems in low- and middle-income countries: case studies from Malaysia and Pakistan
- Adnan A Hyder et al.
doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.051110
Abstract [HTML] | Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 460kb]

Demographic and health surveillance: longitudinal ethical considerations
- Margaret Carrel & Stuart Rennie
doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.051037
Abstract [HTML] | Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 362kb]

Ethical analysis to improve decision-making on health technologies
- Samuli I Saarni et al.
doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.051078
Abstract [HTML] | Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 494kb]

A personalist approach to public-health ethics
- Carlo Petrini & Sabina Gainotti
doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.051193
Abstract [HTML] | Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 385kb]

National bioethical legislation and guidelines for biomedical research in the Islamic Republic of Iran
- Farzaneh Zahedi & Bagher Larijani
doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.050724
Abstract [HTML] | Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 391kb]

Health-sector responses to intimate partner violence in low- and middle-income settings: a review of current models, challenges and opportunities
- Manuela Colombini et al.
doi: 10.2471/BLT.07.045906
Abstract [HTML] | Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 644kb]

PERSPECTIVES

Emerging norms for the control of emerging epidemics
- Christopher W McDougall et al.
doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.051771
Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 180kb]

The burden of surgical conditions and access to surgical care in low- and middle-income countries
- Doruk Ozgediz et al.
doi: 10.2471/BLT.07.050435
Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 169kb]

Access to medicines versus access to treatment: the case of type 1 diabetes
- David Beran et al.
doi: 10.2471/BLT.07.048710
Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 155kb]

PUBLIC HEALTH CLASSICS

The Declaration of Helsinki and public health
- John R Williams
doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.050955
Full article text [HTML] | Full article text [pdf 189kb]

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[EQ] Public Health Pre-Deployment Course

Fifth Public Health Pre-Deployment Course (PHPD5)

16-29 November 2008 - Ottawa, Canada

Organized by the WHO Cluster for Health Action in Crises (HAC), WHO Regional Office for the Americas/Pan American Health Organisation (WHO/PAHO),
Supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and WHO Mediterranean Centre for Vulnerability Reduction (WMC).

Deadline for the submission of application papers is on 31 August 2008

Website: http://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/training/predeployment/phpd5/en/index.html

The purpose of this Course is to prepare professionals with knowledge and experience in different public health and related fields to work effectively, efficiently and safely in the design, implementation, management and/or coordination of emergency response and early recovery

How to apply: http://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/training/predeployment/phpd5_how_to_apply/en/index.html

The Course will be organized in modules:

Health in the broader humanitarian context
This module introduces/updates participants on the international humanitarian system, guiding principles and laws, and trends in humanitarian assistance; and the humanitarian reforms, key pillars and mechanisms for joint action. It also looks into the public health sector players and their response in emergencies, the WHO roles and functions, as well as explore key issues and realities in the field.

Public health issues in emergencies
This highlights key public health areas and cross-cutting humanitarian issues applied in different scenarios, broadly categorized into acute-onset natural disasters, technological emergencies and complex emergencies. It provides emergency health managers with tools and strategies that enable them to identify and prioritize life-saving public health interventions at different phases of a given disaster, emergency or crisis situation. These tools include project planning and resource mobilization processes for filling gaps in health services brought about by these events.

Operational and personal effectiveness
This introduces participants on security and safety aspects during field mission; the measures to take to ensure readiness and good health during the entire field mission (including stress management). It also provides tips on how to communicate public health risks and in dealing with the media in emergencies, as well as orients on telecommunication, computing and personal equipment provided to deployed teams.

The Course is geared towards adult learning and uses participatory methods as much as possible; didactic lectures and presentations are accompanied by discussions, debates, group work, video discussions demonstrations, practical sessions, small and large group exercises, role-playing and simulation. Towards the end of the Course, participants will be exposed to a two-day field simulation exercise. This provides participants with an opportunity to apply learned knowledge and skills in a series of emergency-like scenarios.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the Course, participants will be able to:

· Understand the principles that underpin national emergency response and how this could be complemented by international health humanitarian action in the framework of the UN reforms and other key emerging issues that influence the ways humanitarian organizations operate to ensure greater predictability, accountability and partnership in humanitarian action.

· Understand the core functions of the health sector in emergencies and humanitarian action, and the principles, norms and approaches applied in assisting national/local authorities in addressing health priorities through a coordinated and all-inclusive sectoral/cluster approach.

· Work successfully as part of a multi-national and multi-agency team by effectively collaborating with national counterparts and other teams within the health sector and other relevant humanitarian sectors, and by being sensitive to each others' and the community's culture, customs, language and traditions.

· Adapt emergency health principles, best practices and tools in addressing major health issues in emergencies and humanitarian action, and apply them to specific situations in respect to national and inter-country arrangements.

· Transform situation-specific public health priorities into emergency response and recovery programmes which build on established systems, strengths and resources of humanitarian partners, and more importantly on the capacity and needs of the local public health system

· Protect their own and their counterparts' and colleagues' health, safety and security while operating in harsh or dangerous environments

· Comply with administrative, financial, human resources and reporting systems and standard operating procedures governing WHO/PAHO health action in crises.