Health Equity: April 2010

Friday, April 30, 2010

[EQ] Informal Carers: Who Takes Care of Them?

Informal Carers: Who Takes Care of Them?

Frédérique Hoffmann and Ricardo Rodrigues
Vienna, Policy Brief - April 2010
European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research

PDF 16 p. at: http://www.euro.centre.org/data/1272461942_23133.pdf
pdf, 657 KB, 2010-04-28

Until recently, informal care (provided by relatives and friends) has been overlooked by policy-makers in the context of long-term care for dependent older people. Driven by concerns about the fiscal sustainability of long-term care services and by more self-conscious and demanding carers' movements across countries, informal care has been brought into the limelight.

Data on carers is still relatively scarce due in part to the nature of the care itself as it is often provided informally at home. In view of this, what do we know about informal carers and who benefits from them? Which country differences exist? Which policies are set in place to support them? This Policy Brief tries to shed light on these issues by using available data from (inter)national sources as well as qualitative information gathered in our recent publication /Facts and Figures on Long-term Care -- Europe and North America/. It seeks to increase knowledge on informal carers and discuss some of the implications surrounding social policies that impact them. The analysis is very much policy-oriented and takes a comparative view, focusing mostly on the wider Europe.

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[EQ] Event: Advanced Technologies, Healthcare Systems & Health Research

Advanced Technologies, Healthcare Systems & Health Research

Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 2:00 pm - Washington DC time

Please check the local time in your own town: http://www.timeandd ate.com/worldclo ck/meeting. html

WHERE:

Participants in Person:

Location: Delegation of the European Union to the USA

2175 K Street, N.W., Washington DC 20037

Link to virtual participants:
https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=1110&password=M.A4FA308B5F1FA6CD60DB62C0137303

Focus Topic: The role of advanced technologies in health research and healthcare delivery systems

Goals:

1. discuss how well the technologies can transform health data into information, knowledge, understanding

2. share success stories how the advanced technologies help improve healthcare access, availability, acceptability, cost-effectiveness, continuity, and quality

3. explore how national and international standards are executed when in projects which acquire or access data, analyze or execute data, distribute data, or archive and retrieve health data across various borders

4. explore the potential of sharing open source technologies to the maximum extent possible

Agenda:

2:15pm Welcome by Angelos Pangratis, Acting Head of Delegation, Delegation of the European Union to the U.S.

2:30pm Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, MD, PhD, Director for Health Research, European Commission

European Priorities for Global Health Research

2:50pm Charles Mgone, MD, PhD Executive Director, European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCCTP)

EDCTP: Success Stories and Lessons Learned

3:10pm Rifat Latifi, MD, FACS, International Virtual e-Hospital Foundation

Telemedicine and e-Health in Developing Countries: Lessons from the Balkans

3:25pm – 4:45pm Panel Discussion

Chairs:

Mateja de Leonni Stanonik, MD, PhD

Chair, Scientific and Organizing Committee, Department of Neurology, George Washington University

Jim Sherry, MD, PhD, Chairman of Global Health Department, George Washington University

Panelists:

Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, MD, PhD, Director for Health Research, EC

Rifat Latifi, MD, FACS, International Virtual e-Hospital Foundation

Charles Mgone, MD, PhD, Executive Director EDCTP

Jay H. Sanders, MD, President & CEO of The Global Telemedicine Group, Professor Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Pramod Gaur, PhD, Vice President TeleHealth, UnitedHealth Group

David Aylward, BA, JD, Executive Director of the m-Health Alliance, UN Foundation (tbc)

Antonio Hernandez, Senior Advisor, Health Services Physical Infrastructure & Technology, Pan American Health Organization – PAHO/WHO

4:45pm – 4:55pm Closing Remarks

Mateja de Leonni Stanonik, MD, PhD Chair, Scientific and Organizing Committee

4:55pm – 5:45pm Networking Reception

Target audience:

The diplomatic community of Washington, DC

US Government representatives

Representatives of organizations working in global health

Representatives of health technology & telemedicine

Private business

Representatives of Academic Institutions responsible for Education in public health, global health, and diplomacy

Physicians and all healthcare personnel practicing in global health

Salon Lecture Series: Innovation in Global Health and Development

Main objective: "Meeting of the minds" on issues involving global health and development

Thursday, May 6, 2010 @ 1:30pm

RSVP by May 3

Delegation-USA-ERA@ec.europa.eu

EU Delegation

2175 K Street, NW (use entrance on 22^nd St.)

Washington, DC 20037

In co-organization with

Embassy of Slovenia





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Thursday, April 29, 2010

[EQ] The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters

The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters

Sarah Treuhaft, PolicyLink

Allison Karpyn, The Food Trust
March 2010

Available online PDF [44P.] at:
http://www.policylink.org/atf/cf/%7B97C6D565-BB43-406D-A6D5-ECA3BBF35AF0%7D/FINALGroceryGap.pdf

“…..Inequitable access to healthy food is a major contributor to health disparities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adult obesity rates are 51 percent higher for African Americans than whites, and 21 percent higher for Latinos.. ….”

An apple a day?

“…..For millions of Americans—especially people living in low-income communities of color— finding a fresh apple is not so easy. Full-service grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and other vendors that sell fresh fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods cannot be found in their neighborhoods.

What can be found, often in great abundance, are convenience stores and fast food restaurants that mainly sell cheap, high-fat, high-sugar, processed foods and offer few healthy options.

Without access to healthy foods, a nutritious diet and good health are out of reach. And without grocery stores and other fresh food retailers, communities are missing the commercial hubs that make neighborhoods livable, and help local economies thrive.For decades, community activists have organized around the lack of access to healthy foods as an economic, health, and social justice issue. As concerns grow over healthcare and the country’s worsening obesity epidemic, “food deserts” — areas where there is little or no access to healthy and affordable food—have catapulted to the forefront of public policy discussions.

Policymakers at the local, state, and national level have begun recognizing the role that access to healthy food plays in promoting healthy local economies, healthy neighborhoods, and healthy people.

This report, a summary of our current knowledge about food deserts and their impacts on communities, provides evidence to inform this policymaking.

To assess the current evidence base in this dynamic and fast-growing field of research, we compiled the most comprehensive bibliography to date of studies examining food access and its implications conducted in the United States over the past 20 years.

This bibliography incorporates a total of 132 studies: Sixty-one published in peer reviewed journals and primarily conducted by university-based researchers and 71 conducted by practitioners or policy researchers, sometimes in collaboration with academic researchers, and self-published (also known as “grey literature”).

The studies include three nationwide analyses of food store availability and neighborhood, city, county, regional, statewide, and multistate analyses covering 22 states across the country….”





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[EQ] Healthy workplaces: a model for action

Healthy workplaces: a model for action

For employers, workers, policy-makers and practitioners

World Health Organization 2010

Available online PDF [32p.] at: http://bit.ly/cAKrLz

“…..Workers’ health, safety and well-being are vital concerns to hundreds of millions of working people worldwide. But the issue extends even further beyond individuals and their families. It is of paramount importance to the productivity, competitiveness and sustainability of enterprises, communities, and to national and regional economies.

Currently, an estimated two million people die each year as a result of occupational accidents and work-related illnesses or injuries (1). Another 268 million non-fatal workplace accidents result in an average of three lost workdays per casualty, as well as 160 million new cases of work-related illness each year (2). Additionally, 8% of the global burden of disease from depression is currently attributed to occupational risks (3).

These data, collected by the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization, only reflect the injuries and illnesses that occur in formally registered workplaces. In many countries, most workers are employed informally in factories and businesses where there are no records of work-related injuries or illnesses, let alone any programmes to prevent injuries or illnesses. Addressing this huge burden of disease, economic costs and long-term loss of human resources from unhealthy workplaces is a formidable challenge for national governments, economic sectors, and health policy-makers and practitioners….”

“…The Global Plan of Action sets out five objectives:

1) To devise and implement policy instruments on workers’ health;

2) To protect and promote health at the workplace;

3) To promote the performance of, and access to, occupational health services;

4) To provide and communicate evidence for action and practice;

5) To incorporate workers’ health into other policies….”

Contents

Introduction

I. Why develop a healthy workplace initiative?

II. Definition of a healthy workplace

III: Healthy workplace processes and avenues of influence

IV. The content: avenues of influence for a healthy workplace

V. The process: initiating and sustaining a programme

VI. Underlying principles: keys to success

VII. Adapting to local contexts and needs

References





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[EQ] The Health Impact Fund: Making Medicines Accessible for All

The Health Impact Fund: Making Medicines Accessible for All

A Report of Incentives for Global Health

Aidan Hollis and Thomas Pogge – Lead authors

Available online PDF [152p.] at: http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/igh/hif_book.pdf

Corrections and Supplements November 2009 http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/igh/files/HIF_supplementsNov09.pdf

‘……The chief problems with the present system governing the development and distribution of medicines are well known: despite relatively low manufacturing costs, patented medicines are often very expensive and are therefore unaffordable for most people; and diseases concentrated among the poor attract little or no pharmaceutical research. As a result of both factors, the disease burden among the poor is, avoidably, very high. Many diseases of the poor are communicable and expose all of humanity to the risk of new and virulent strains. These problems are further aggravated: by patients who, often deterred by high prices, fail to complete a full course of treatment; by lack of access to competent medical staff who would ensure that medicines are taken correctly; and by counterfeiters, often attracted by high prices, who may dilute a medicine’s active ingredients.

In addition, competitive marketing and litigation costs reduce the return from innovation, and make it a less attractive investment. Each of these problems has provoked ideas and initiatives by academics, NGOs, governments, and international agencies. By supporting both innovation and real access, the Health Impact Fund extends the best of these ideas into one comprehensive, unified solution that makes substantial progress toward a rational system of developing and distributing worldwide the pharmaceuticals we all need……”

Preface

Contents

Executive Summary

1. The Health Impact Fund: A Summary Overview

2. Reward Mechanism

3. Health Impact Measurement

4. Governance and Administration

5. Financing the Health Impact Fund

6. A Moral Argument for Creating the Health Impact Fund

7. The Last Mile Problem

What Is the Last Mile Problem?

Pharmaceutical Companies, the Health Impact Fund, and the Last Mile Problem

8. An Economic Analysis of Patents and the Health Impact Fund

9. Alternative and Complementary Solutions

Governmental and Non-governmental Direct Purchases

Drug Price Reduction Efforts

Patent pools

Push Mechanisms

Pull Mechanisms

10. The Health Impact Fund: A Cost-effective, Feasible Plan for Improving Human Health Worldwide

The Need for Change

How the Health Impact Fund Works for Patients

How the Health Impact Fund Works for Pharmaceutical Companies

How the Health Impact Fund Works for Taxpayers

Why for Pharmaceuticals? And Why Now?

The Path Forward

Appendix A: Poverty, Global Health, and Essential Medicines

The Disease Burden in Developing Countries

Appendix B: Pharmaceutical Markets and Innovation

Global Pharmaceutical Markets

Insurance and Pricing

Notes on Quotations

References





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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

[EQ] Portuguese: M=?iso-8859-1?Q?=F3dulos_de_Princ=EDpios?= de E pidemiologia para o Controle de Enfermidades (MOPECE)

Módulos de Princípios de Epidemiologia para o Controle de Enfermidades (MOPECE)

-na versão traduzida para a língua portuguesa

Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde no Brasil (OPAS) 2010

Website: http://new.paho.org/bra/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1125&Itemid=371

O MOPECE é um instrumento de capacitação em epidemiologia básica, voltado para profissionais de saúde, especialmente aqueles que atuam nos serviços de saúde locais, que tem por finalidade promover o conhecimento e a aplicação prática dos conteúdos epidemiológicos no enfrentamento dos problemas de saúde local, assim como no apoio ao planejamento e gestão em saúde.

Manual do facilitador de grupos

Apresenta orientações aos facilitadores quanto à organização e condução do treinamento, respostas as perguntas e exercícios disponíveis em cada módulo, e também informações complementares para apoio as discussões

Módulo 1 - Apresentação e marco conceitual

Descreve o contexto, estrutura e objetivos do MOPECE, e apresenta o marco conceitual da epidemiologia e dos determinantes de saúde. Também propõe uma avaliação inicial com o objetivo de mensurar o conhecimento prévio do(s) participante(s).

Módulo 2 - Saúde na população

Descreve o foco epidemiológico na saúde, a história natural da doença, causalidade, cadeia epidemiológica, e características básicas da ocorrência, transmissão e persistência de doenças na população.

Módulo 3 - Medição das condições de saúde e doença na população

Apresenta os principais tipos de medidas utilizadas em saúde pública e suas aplicações, além de descrever sua forma de cálculo e interpretação.

Módulo 4 - Vigilância em saúde pública

Descreve a importância da vigilância em saúde pública, principiais tipos, usos e também a aplicação dos princípios básicos de vigilância no enfrentamento dos problemas de saúde locais. Identifica também os principias componentes de um sistema de vigilância e alguns critérios utilizados para a avaliação deste.

Módulo 5 - Investigação epidemiológica de campo: aplicação ao estudo de surtos

Descreve os princípios, métodos e procedimentos básicos de uma investigação epidemiológica de campo, propõe um exercício prático de investigação de campo e apresenta a descrição de algumas experiências, inclusive de uma investigação de surto realizada no Brasil.

Módulo 6 - Controle de doenças na população

Apresenta os vários tipos de resposta de saúde pública nos distintos níveis do processo saúde e doença, e também o alcance e aplicação das medidas de prevenção e controle de doenças na população.





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