Health Equity: 10/25/10

Monday, October 25, 2010

[EQ] Call for proposals for systematic reviews to strengthen the international community capacity for evidence-based policy making

Call for proposals

The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) are announcing a joint call for proposals.

For: Systematic Reviews to strengthen the international community’s capacity for evidence-based policy making.

Website: http://bit.ly/cSQak4

Systematic reviews examine the existing evidence on a particular intervention or program in low and middle income countries, drawing also on evidence from developed countries when pertinent.

The studies should be carried out according to recognized international standards and guidelines.

All studies will be subject to an external review process and for this purpose teams will be encouraged to register for peer review with a relevant systematic review coordinating body.

All applications have to be submitted using 3ie’s online application system.

Applications should be submitted online by 9am GMT on Monday, November 29, 2010.

The guidance documents available on this website are also available through the online application system.
All applications have to be submitted online and NOT via email.

Proposals will be reviewed by three reviewers, including one external systematic review specialist and one external subject specialist.
Successful proposal teams will be notified by Friday, January 28, 2011.

* * *
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]
Washington DC USA

“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] Supporting the Implementation of Mental Health Policies in the Americas - A Human Rights Law-Based Approach

Supporting the Implementation of Mental Health Policies in the Americas:

Findings, Trends, and Targets for Public Health Action

Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO 2010

This project was supported by Sida (Swedish Cooperation) from 2001 to 2005 and covered visits to 17 countries of the PAHO/WHO Region in collaboration with
PAHO /WHO representation offices, Governments, civil society and regional treaty bodies

Available online PDF [85p.] at: http://bit.ly/98synw

“………Historically, violations of human rights concerning physical impairments or illnesses have often drawn more attention from interest groups than violations related to mental health and/or psychiatric disorders. Within the public health and human rights law fields, this imbalance has contributed to the marginalization and discrimination of persons with mental disabilities and/or disorders, as compared with those affected with other kinds of health problems, diseases, epidemics and/or disabilities.

This paper is based on first hand experiences from nineteen human rights educational workshops and consultations carried out in the PAHO Region. These consultations started in Central America and continued in South America and the Caribbean in 17 countries. The workshops included an average of 35 participants per workshop, from governmental agencies (ministries of health, labor, education and finance), civil society, as well as judges, legislators, ombudspersons, the media, consumers and family members.

During these events PAHO’s human rights experts, in close collaboration with mental health specialists, introduced relevant human rights’ concepts, principles, norms, and guidelines as established in international human rights law (treaties and standards) applicable to the context of mental health systems………..…….” Dr. Mirta Roses, PAHO/WHO Director

Content:

FOREWORD

1. Introduction and Background

1.1. Bridging the Gap in Mental Health Care Using a Human Rights Law-based Approach

1.2. Responding to the Problem

1.3. National, Subregional, and Regional Workshops

1.4. Visits to Psychiatric Facilities

1.5. Research Objectives and Methodology

2. Targets for Public Health Action Based on the Findings and on Trends in Mental Health

3. Summaries of Workshop Findings: Trends in Mental Health Management in Participating Countries in the Region of the Americas

4. Case Study: How a Workshop Can Make a Difference in People’s Lives

5. Case Review and PAHO Interventions

5.1 Incident

5.2 PAHO/WHO Interventions

6. Summary of PAHO/WHO Interventions in Paraguay Case Study

ANNEX 1 International Human Rights Instruments used in the Project

ANNEX 2 International Human Rights Instruments Applicable to Persons with Mental Disorders and/or Disabilities

Also available in Spanish:

Hallazgos, Tendencias, Medidas Estratégicas para Acción en Salud Pública:
enfoque basado en los Derechos Humanos
– OPS/OMS http://bit.ly/aQl4KA





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[EQ] Value for Money in Health Spending

Value for Money in Health Spending

OECD Health Policy Studies – 2010
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Available online PDF file [204p.] at: http://bit.ly/aFQufV

“….Health spending continues to rise inexorably, growing faster than the economy in most OECD countries. Most of this spending comes from the public purse. Given the recent economic downturn, countries are looking for ways to improve the efficiency of health spending.

This publication examines current efforts to improve health care efficiency, including tools that show promise in helping health systems provide the best care for their money, such as pay for performance, co-ordination of care, health technology assessment and clinical guidelines, pharmaceutical re-imbursement and risk-sharing agreements, and information and communication technology…”

Table of contents:

Executive Summary

Chapter 1. How Much is Too Much? Value for Money in Health Spending

-1. Introduction
-2. Health care spending: developments over recent decades
-3. Spending by type of health care services
-4. The drivers of health care spending
-5. Will financial sustainability be a problem in the future?
-6. Is fiscal sustainability a problem now?
-7. How can we ensure economic sustainability of health systems?
-8. Conclusions.

Chapter 2. Policies for Health Care Systems when Money is Tight
-1. Introduction
-2. Overview of policy options
-3. Supply-side policies intended to restrain expenditure and increase cost efficiency
-4. Demand-side issues and policies
-5. Conclusions

Chapter 3. Rational Decision Making in Resource Allocation
-1. Introduction
-2. The potential for enhanced efficiency
-3. EBM and HTA offer opportunities to rationalise health care provision
-4. Health technology assessment
-5. The current use of technology assessment in OECD countries
-6. The impact of health technology assessment
-7. The future of health technology assessment
-8. Conclusions

Chapter 4. Improving Value for Money in Health by Paying for Performance
-1. Introduction
-2. Difficulty in defining and measuring quality of care
-3. Pay for performance: a new paradigm
-4. Getting the design right in P4P: multiple agent problem
-5. Defining P4P
-6. P4P programme design framework .
-7. Rewarding providers
-8. P4P programmes in OECD countries
-9. Conclusions

Chapter 5. Improving Co-ordination of Care for Chronic Diseases to Achieve Better Value for Money
-1. Introduction
-2. Changing burden of disease in OECD countries
-3. Adapting health systems to meet the needs of the chronically ill
-4. OECD care co-ordination survey
-5. Models of care co-ordination
-6. Disease management: a yet unproven tool for bending the cost curve
-7. Improving the cost effectiveness of disease management
-8. Achieving better returns from care co-ordination
-9. Conclusions

Chapter 6. Drawing all the Benefits from Pharmaceutical Spending
-1. Introduction
-2. Pharmaceutical spending in OECD countries
-3. Reimbursement and pricing policies in OECD countries
-4. Recent developments in reimbursement and pricing policies
-5. Efforts to develop generic markets
-6. Conclusions

Chapter 7. Redesigning Health Systems with the Support of ICTs
-1. Introduction
-2. What ICT can (and cannot) do for health care
-3. How can ICT improve value for money in health care
-4. Use of electronic health records is slow with a few exceptions
-5. More widespread adoption requires overcoming several challenges
-6. ICT is the foundation for a wider approach to improving health system performance
-7. Conclusions
Bibliography





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[EQ] Call for Papers: Health and Human rights in Disasters - theme issue of Health and Human Rights: An International Journal

CALL FOR PAPERS

Health and Human Rights: An International Journal invites submissions for a forthcoming theme issue on

Health and Human Rights in Disasters by October 31, 2010.

Website: http://www.hhrjournal.org/submissions.php

Disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, civil war, and other sudden large-scale calamities often trigger health crises and can result in responses that compromise and even devalue the fulfillment of human rights. For this issue, we invite submissions that explore the human rights and health aspects of disaster relief preparation, management, and outcomes.

Essays are particularly invited that: explore disparities between implementation in the field and academic literature; offer insights into the traditional definitions of vulnerable groups within the context of humanitarian operations; suggest critical analyses of disaster response from a health rights-based participatory or accountability perspective; consider ethics in crisis response; or examine the increasing role of risk reduction as it relates to both public health and human rights practice.
What voices are missing from the field in human rights analyses of disaster? What new models of practice might improve the right to health for all affected by both disaster and response?

Deadline: October 31, 2010. (Late submissions will be considered; See below)

Intent to submit: Authors with a scholarly manuscript now in preparation, relevant to the issue, who may find it necessary to submit later than the October 31 deadline are strongly urged to send an “intent to submit” email (or related query) to hhrjournal@hsph.harvard.edu by October 31, 2010.

Please include an abstract of your paper and the anticipated date for your final submission. Statements of intent do not ensure publication; all manuscripts selected for consideration will be subject to editorial and independent peer review.

Editorial Office: Health and Human Rights: An International Journal
François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights - Harvard School of Public Health
FXB Building, 7th Floor 651 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115 USA
hhrjournal@hsph.harvard.edu - http://hhrjournal.org





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