Health Equity: 11/03/08

Monday, November 3, 2008

[EQ] IEA Capacity Building conference for the global South - Jaipur, India April 5-17, 2009

First IEA Capacity Building conference for the global South

International Epidemiologic Association (IEA)

Jaipur, India April 5-17, 2009

Website: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/iea/Welcome.htm

-- The International Course on Epidemiological Methods course directors are: Professor Neil Pearce (New Zealand); Professor Rodolfo Saracci (France); Dr D Prabhakaran (India); the additional course faculty are: Professor George Davey Smith (UK); Professor Shah Ebrahim (UK); Professor Lorenzo Richiardi (Italy); Dr Silvia Franceschi (France); Dr Rajeev Gupta (India); and Professor K. Srinath Reddy (India).

The deadline for applications is: DECEMBER 1, 2008
Information about the course and the application form are available at: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/iea/SEAsia.htm

The aims of the IEA are “to facilitate communication among those engaged in research and teaching in epidemiology throughout the world, and to engage in the development and use of epidemiological methods in all fields of health including social, community and preventive medicine and health services administration.”

To advance these objectives, the IEA publishes the bi-monthly International Journal of Epidemiology and every three year organizes a World Congress of Epidemiology, with regional conferences held in the interim.

In particular, one of the IEA’s current emphases is to build epidemiological capacity in the global South, as well as to increase equitable global South/global North research collaborations. An important focus of many IEA members is on health inequities, within and between countries and regions, with the aim of producing knowledge and evidence that can be used to reduce these inequities and improve population health.

To join the IEA: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/iea/application1.htm

* * *

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/ KMC 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
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] The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health:

Looking Back and Moving Forward International Symposium

International Symposium

25-27 September 2008 at the British Medical Association BMA House, London

Available online as PDF file [35p.] at:
http://www.humanrightsimpact.org/fileadmin/hria_resources/HeRWAI_Centre/Report_SRRH_Symposium_25-27_September_2008.pdf

“….This report presents a summary of the presentations and group discussions, as well as the suggestions offered. It should be made clear in advance that these suggestions may not represent the opinions of all the participants. They should be regarded as a combined wish-list of a group of experts from different countries, backgrounds and professions rather than a rigorously debated set of recommendations….”

Contents

Introduction

Plenary 1- The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, the Special Rapporteur and Health Workers

Plenary 2 - Health Systems and the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health

Working Groups

1: Accountability

2: New Tools and Techniques with a focus on Indicators and Impact Assessment

3: Determinants of Health

4: International Assistance and Cooperation

Plenary 3 - Mainstreaming a Human Rights-Based Approach to Health

Working Groups

5: Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, including Maternal Mortality

6: Neglected populations with a focus on Neglected Diseases

7: Skills Drain

8: Human Rights and Health Education

Plenary 4 The Special Rapporteur’s Missions and Reports

Working Groups

9: Further Discussion and Evaluation of Missions

10: Participation

11: HIV/AIDS

12: Mental Disabilities

Plenary 5 - The Way Forward

* * *

    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] Conference on Better evidence for a better world - The Campbell Collaboration colloquium and The Lancet Call for Papers

The Campbell Collaboration colloquium and The Lancet

Conference on Better evidence for a better world

Oslo, Norway, May 18–19, 2009

Website: http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/Colloquium/Colloquium.shtml

“….How can we improve our schools? How do we best protect our community from crime? How should we care for the homeless? As with health, there is an abundance of questions concerning the effectiveness of interventions and the balance between good and harmful effects, in education, crime and justice, and social welfare.

Together, these areas comprise much of what society is about: creating a safe environment for children to grow up in and encouraging learning and equal opportunities for all, while providing safety nets for those in need. As underlined by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, education, protection from crime, and social welfare also clearly constitute the broader determinants of health. Action is needed outside of health care to improve life expectancy and health.

This conference on “Better evidence for a better world” especially welcomes contributions from low-income and middle-income countries. To assess the effect of attempts to improve how people are born, grow, live, work, and age in poor countries is very important. We aim to show how the social and medical arenas inter-relate and how interventions often target the same individuals across disciplines.

The conference will highlight the need for relevant and reliable evidence, and encourage the building of a world library of systematic reviews aimed at summarising that evidence. Hence we are interested in both primary research and systematic reviews.

The Lancet is especially interested in publishing research, reviews, and health-policy papers that will be presented at the conference, but will also consider other

papers for a theme issue. Papers should be submitted online and the covering letter should mention that the submission is in response to this call for papers….”

The deadline for submission is Dec 15 , 2008. Please submit via the online submission webpage.

Arild Bjørndal, Richard Horton

Campbell Collaboration, Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services, N-0130 Oslo, Norway (AB); and The Lancet, London, UK (RH)

arb@nokc.no

Comment on www.thelancet.com Vol 372 October 25, 2008

Related Material:

Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health.

Geneva: World Health Organization, 2008.

http://www.who.int/entity/social_determinants/final_report/csdh_finalreport_2008.pdf .

* * *

    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] Enhancing capacity to apply research evidence in policymaking - Call for Expressions of Interest

Call for Expressions of Interest from teams based in low income countries

Enhancing capacity to apply research evidence in policymaking

Website: http://www.who.int/alliance-hpsr/callsforproposals/Alliance%20HPSR_Joint_Call_WellcomeTrust.pdf

Closing date: 16 January 2009

The Wellcome Trust and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) have launched a new initiative to promote the use of research evidence in developing health policy.

Policymaking is a complex process, influenced by a multitude of factors and stakeholders, including civil society organisations, such as advocacy and interest groups and the media. Research evidence is just one of the many factors that influences policy, but for policymakers who may not be schooled in research, it can be challenging to assess the quality of the research. In addition, research results are often complex and nuanced, without clear evidence that a particular policy or strategy is effective under all conditions.

Now, the Wellcome Trust and the Alliance HPSR have joined together for a US$1 million initiative aimed at ensuring that policymakers in low-income countries, such as politicians, civil servants, political advisors, and health system managers, have the necessary skills to apply research evidence in the policy process.

"This new partnership aims to help bridge the gap that often exists between researchers and policy makers," says Dr Jimmy Whitworth, Head of International Activities at the Wellcome Trust. "We hope that this will establish effective mechanisms so that policy makers can better appreciate the implications of research studies and to ensure that this evidence is taken into account when formulating policy."

"Investments in health research aim to improve the health status of populations, but such impacts will only occur if policy makers and civil society pick up research findings and act upon them," says Sara Bennett, Manager at the Alliance HPSR. With this programme we hope to improve the prospects that evidence informs policy and also learn more about what types of strategies are effective in building policy maker skills and enhancing capacity for evidence use.

Examples of ways in which to enhance capacity to use evidence in policymaking include:

· Providing training and/or mentoring in how to acquire, assess, adapt and apply of research evidence;

· Internships that enable policymakers to spend time in research environments or vice versa;

· Improving access to research resources for policymakers through the launch of websites dedicated to evidence for policymaking;

· Establishing databases of local researchers and their interests which policymakers could draw upon when seeking evidence;

· Supporting legislation that requires publication of evidence base for new policies.

E-MAIL alliancehpsr@who.int

* * *

    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.