[EQ] Strong Medicine for a Healthier America

Strong Medicine for a Healthier America

American Journal of Preventive Medicine supplement examines how social factors affect health and offers recommendations for action.

Am J Prev Med  2011;40(1S1)S1–S3 S1

Website http://bit.ly/fEvBH1

 

“…..A supplement to the latest issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM), funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, includes six articles and a broad array of commentaries that provide a fundamental understanding of the fact that where, we live, learn, work and play has as much to do with our health as the health care we receive.

 

The authors–including Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, David R. Williams, Michael G. Marmot and more–address factors beginning with early childhood education, to homes and communities, to the economic rationale for improving the lives of disadvantaged Americans.

 

Together, the collection provides an in-depth look at why some Americans are so much healthier than others and why Americans are not the healthiest people in the world.

 

‘………There is more to health than health care. Where we live, work, learn, and play can affect our health more than what happens in the physician’s offıce.

Yet, ask our national leaders “What determines health?” and you’ll hear about access to health care. As vital as health care and healthcare reform are, they are just part of the answer. Over the past few years, more and more attention has focused on the social factors that are important determinants of how healthy we are.
Examining these factors—the relationships between how we live our lives and the economic, social, and physical environments that surround us—reveals just how connected our health is with how we live, where we live, and the world into which we were born.

While medical care is vital to treat disease once diagnosed, it turns out that prevention requires a much broader approach than the medical model suggests. Some factors that affect health are within our control, but many are not…..”

From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Risa Lavizzo-Mourey), Princeton, New Jersey; Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, School of Public Health, and Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard University (David R  Williams), Cambridge, Massachusetts

Articles Include:

·         Strong Medicine for a Healthier America: Introduction

·         Broadening the Focus: The Need to Address the Social Determinants of Health

·         Healthy Starts for All: Policy Prescriptions

·         Citizen-Centered Health Promotion

·         Healthy Homes and Communities

·         When Do We Know Enough to Recommend Action on the Social Determinants of Health?

·         The Economic Value of Improving the Health of Disadvantaged Americans

Commentaries include

·         Improving Health: Social Determinants and Personal Choice

·         To Improve Health, Don't Follow the Money

·         Moving on Upstream: The Role of Health Departments in Addressing Socioecologic Determinants of Disease

·         Businesses As Partners to Improve Community Health

·         Strengthening the Public Research Agenda for Social Determinants of Health

“…..The AJPM supplement builds on the work of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America, which was charged with exploring how factors outside the health care system impact health and crafting recommendations to improve the health of all Americans. Members of the Commission’s research team and former staff director David R. Williams are among the authors discussing the rationale for the Commission’s 10-recommendation blueprint and the need for action to address the social determinants of health….”

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[EQ] The Future of Pensions and Healthcare in a Rapidly Ageing World - Scenarios to 2030

The Future of Pensions and Healthcare in a Rapidly Ageing World

Scenarios to 2030

World Economic Forum -  Davos, Switzerland -  January 2011

Available online PDF [117p.] at:  http://bit.ly/hRMix2

“…….This report presents three broad global scenarios on the future of pensions and healthcare. Each of these scenarios provides a very different perspective on how the various driving forces and stakeholder responses to the demographic challenge could evolve over the next two decades.

 

“….The report also includes a “deep dive” into two case study countries: Italy and China. These case studies explore in more detail how the three global scenarios could play out in specific developed and emerging economies.
Italy is an interesting case study as it has one of the oldest populations in the world due to low fertility rates and very high life expectancies.
China presents an equally interesting case as it is not only one of the world’s fastest-growing economies but also one of the fastest ageing societies due to its family planning policy. Finally, this report also presents a number of strategic options based on preliminary research and insights from leaders in the field….”

 

Contents

Executive Summary

Section 1: The Key Challenges for Pensions and Healthcare

Section 2: Scenarios to 2030

The Winners and the Rest

We Are in This Together

You Are on Your Own

Section 3: From Scenarios to Strategic Options

Section 4: Conclusion

Partners’ View

Appendices

 

Health for all is one of the World Economic Forum’s Key Issues
- Davos, Switzerland, January 2011

“….Forum focuses on three key health-related activities: advocacy, dialogue and action through partnership….”

Chronic Diseases http://www.weforum.org/issues/chronic-diseases

Jeffrey A Hubbell on regeneration Regenerative med
Julio Frenk on healthcare reform Creative solutions to healthcare
James Moody on malnutrition Using science to tackle malnutrition
Ideas for tackling malnutrition How to feed the world
GAVI, a global success Immunisation worldwide 

Workplace Wellness Alliance http://www.weforum.org/issues/workplace-wellness-alliance/index.html

Mark Foster on Workplace Health
Peter Piot on workplace health 
Martin Sorrell on Workplace
Jan Malek, Cisco, health innovation  

mHealth http://www.weforum.org/issues/mhealth/index.html

Michael E Porter Using innovation in healthcare
Michael Hedges on mobile health The changing face of healthcare 
Tanya Mounier, Health Handbook How healthcare is changing 
George Poste, mobile healthcare How technology impacts healthcare 
Andrew Schiermeier, Medicine in Need The need for new drugs

Global Health http://www.weforum.org/issues/global-health/index.html

Christopher Murray A new paradigm for healthcare
Patricia Woertz Global healthcare: the industry outlook
Mark Foster Global health awareness is rising
Krista Thompson VP, Global Health
Reggie Van Lee Partnerships in global healthcare

Innovative healthcare delivery models
 http://www.weforum.org/issues/innovative-healthcare-delivery-models/index.html

Steinberg, mobile healthcare The mobile health opportunity
Angela McLean, Drug Resistance Drug resistance and the global commons
Andrew Schiermeier, Medicine in Need The need for new drugs
George Poste, mobile healthcare How technology impacts healthcare
Tanya Mounier, Health Handbook How healthcare is changing
 

A Charter for Health Data http://www.weforum.org/issues/charter-health-data/index.html

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[EQ] When Do We Know Enough to Recommend Action on the Social Determinants of Health?

When Do We Know Enough to Recommend Action on the Social Determinants of Health?

Paula A. Braveman, , Susan A. Egerter, Steven H. Woolf,  James S. Marks
From the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco (Braveman, Egerter), San Francisco, California; the Department of Family Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University (Woolf), Richmond, Virginia; and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Marks), Princeton, New Jersey

Am J Prev Med 2011;40(1S1):S58–S66 - 2011 American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Website: http://bit.ly/gWr6i7

“………..The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America was charged to identify strategies beyond medical care to address health disparities in the U.S. related to social and economic disadvantage.

 

Based on insights gained while providing scientifıc support for the commission’s efforts, this paper presents an overview of major issues that arise when assessing evidence to inform policies and programs to address the social determinants of health. While many of the insights are not new, they have not been widely assimilated within medicine and public health. They have particular relevance now, given growing awareness of the important health influences of social factors.

 

The discussion presented here is intended to highlight key considerations for researchers who study social determinants of health and policymakers whose decisions are shaped by research fındings. Policies should be based on the best available knowledge, derived from diverse sources and methods.

An array of tools and guidelines is now available to guide the assessment of evidence on the social determinants of health, building on—and going beyond—principles fırst articulated in the “Evidence-Based Medicine” movement.

The central thesis of the current paper is that the standards for evidence to guide social policies must be equally rigorous but also more comprehensive than those traditionally used to inform clinical interventions, because social policies must deal with upstream factors that affect health through complex causal pathways over potentially long time periods….”

 

Broadening the Focus: The Need to Address the Social Determinants of Health  

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 40, Issue 1, Supplement 1, January 2011, Pages S4-S18

Paula A. Braveman, Susan A. Egerter, Robin E. Mockenhaupt

Website: http://bit.ly/i6RG63

 

“…..While ensuring that individuals have access to appropriate medical care and information about health-promoting behaviors remains important, effective solutions also will require a broader focus on the contexts that powerfully shape both health behaviors and health itself. Much remains to be learned about which strategies are most effective, but current knowledge is suffıcient to indicate promising directions….”

 

Commission publications: http://www.commissiononhealth.org/Publications.aspx

 

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[EQ] Presentation: Chronic Disease: the real epidemic [Links PDF English - Spanish - Portuguese]

PAHO/WHO Guest Speaker Lecture on Chronic Disease Epidemiology

Prof. Robert A. Spasoff, Emeritus Professor, Ottawa University, Epidemiology & Community Medicine
Title:  Chronic Disease: the real epidemic - Wednesday 26 January 2011 - Washington DC

Presentation - PDF file
English link Chronic Disease: the Real Epidemic http://bit.ly/ffDbn7	Spanish Link Enfermedad Crónica: la Verdadera Epidemia http://bit.ly/ijyFMm	Portuguese link Doença Crônica: A Epidemia Real http://bit.ly/fhWBqN

 

Use the links below to watch the Elluminate – online recorded session in::

Spanish:  http://bit.ly/f6ZZmo
English:  http://bit.ly/fRJqw0

 

Agenda
Welcome Remarks. Dr. Marcos Antonio Espinal. Manager, Health Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control, PAHO/WHO

Lecture by Dr. Robert Spasoff; Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology and Community Medicine; Ottawa University
Chronic Disease: the real epidemic

Discussion; Moderator Dr. James Hospedales, Project Coordinator, Prevention & Control of Chronic Diseases, PAHO

 Contact:  email - Dr. Oscar Mujica mujicaos@paho.org

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[EQ] Sustainable Development: From Brundtland to Rio 2012

Sustainable Development: From Brundtland to Rio 2012

John Drexhage and Deborah Murphy, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

Background Paper prepared for the High Level Panel on Global Sustainability

United Nations Headquarters, New York - September 2010

Available online PDF [26p.] at: http://bit.ly/eQDZIW

“…..The term, sustainable development, was popularized in Our Common Future, a report published by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. Also known as the Brundtland report, Our Common Future included the “classic” definition of sustainable development: “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Acceptance of the report by the United Nations General Assembly gave the term political salience; and in 1992 leaders set out the principles of sustainable development at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It is generally accepted that sustainable development calls for a convergence between the three pillars of economic development, social equity, and environmental protection. Sustainable development is a visionary development paradigm; and over the past 20 years governments, businesses, and civil society have accepted sustainable development as a guiding principle, made progress on sustainable development metrics, and improved business and NGO participation in the sustainable development process.

 

Yet the concept remains elusive and implementation has proven difficult. Unsustainable trends continue and sustainable development has not found the political entry points to make real progress. As a result, climate change has become the de facto proxy for implementation of the sustainable development agenda; but the framework of the climate change negotiations are not always the appropriate forum for broader strategic discussions of sustainable development.

While sustainable development is intended to encompass three pillars, over the past 20 years it has often been compartmentalized as an environmental issue. Added to this, and potentially more limiting for the sustainable development agenda, is the reigning orientation of development as purely economic growth. This has been the framework used by developed countries in attaining their unprecedented levels of wealth, and major and rapidly developing countries are following the same course.

 

The problem with such an approach is that natural resources are in imminent peril of being exhausted or their quality being compromised to an extent that threatens current biodiversity and natural environments. Addressing this challenge calls for changes at the consumer level in developed countries. Developed countries have the wealth and technical capacity to implement more sustainable policies and measures, yet the required level of political leadership and citizen engagement is still a long way off.

 

The lack of action in developed countries is compounded by economic growth in developing countries that follows the resource-intensive model of developed countries. Without change and real action to address levels of consumerism and resource use in developed countries, one can hardly expect a receptive audience among developing countries when attempts are made to direct attention to their economic development practices. More sustainable development pathways are needed in both developed and developing countries; which require a level of dialogue, cooperation and, most importantly, trust that simply is not reflected in today’s multilateral institutions or regimes.

There is a huge gap between the multilateral processes, with their broad goals and policies; and national action, which reflects domestic political and economic realities. A huge constituency around the world cares deeply and talks about sustainable development, but has not taken serious on-the-ground action. Deep structural changes are needed in the ways that societies manage their economic, social, and environmental affairs; and hard choices are needed to move from talk to action….”

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. The Origins of Sustainable Development

3. The 20 Years since Rio

3.1 Acceptance of sustainable development as a guiding principle

3.2 Progress on sustainable development metrics

3.3 Improvements in partnering with stakeholders

3.4 Difficulties in implementing sustainable development

3.5 Sustainable development has found a de facto ‘home’ in climate change

4. 20 Years Later: How does sustainable development

4.1 Some progress on sustainable development

4.2 But unsustainable trends continue

4.3 What underlies the less than expected progress on sustainable development

5. Moving Ahead

References

More information at: http://bit.ly/eYFEhZ

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[EQ] Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) - papers online

malERA – a research agenda for malaria eradication

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 January  2011
Produced with support from the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) initiative, which was funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Available online at: http://bit.ly/hCjCCC

“…..The Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) initiative complements existing research agendas, which are primarily aimed at reducing the global burden of morbidity and mortality due to malaria by malaria control, with a set of research and development priorities that identify knowledge gaps and tools needed for worldwide eradication of malaria.

 

 Over the course of two years, more than 250 experts from 36 countries participated in 20 malERA meetings around the world, producing a draft research and development agenda that was refined during the malERA "Zenith Week" meeting in Washington D.C., in March, 2010.

 

This sponsored Collection of 12 Reviews comprises three reflective pieces and nine research and development agendas that arose from these consultations….”

Download: Complete Collection (3.8 MB PDF).PDF [101p.] at: http://bit.ly/fvkuJY

 

 

A Research Agenda to Underpin Malaria Eradication

Pedro L. Alonso, Graham Brown, Myriam Arevalo-Herrera, Fred Binka, Chetan Chitnis, Frank Collins, Ogobara K. Doumbo, Brian Greenwood, B. Fenton Hall, Myron M. Levine, Kamini Mendis, Robert D. Newman, Christopher V. Plowe, Mario Henry Rodríguez, Robert Sinden, Laurence Slutsker, Marcel Tanner

PLoS Medicine:Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000406

A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Basic Science and Enabling Technologies

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000399

A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Drugs

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000402

A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Vaccines

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000398

A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Vector Control

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000401

A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Diagnoses and Diagnostics

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000396

A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Health Systems and Operational Research

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000397

A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Monitoring, Evaluation, and Surveillance

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000400

A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Modeling

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000403

A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Cross-Cutting Issues for Eradication

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000404

Some Lessons for the Future from the Global Malaria Eradication Programme (1955–1969)

José A. Nájera, Matiana González-Silva, Pedro L. Alonso

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000412

The Role of Research in Viral Disease Eradication and Elimination Programs: Lessons for Malaria Eradication

Joel G. Breman, Ciro A. de Quadros, Walter R. Dowdle, William H. Foege, Donald A. Henderson, T. Jacob John, Myron M. Levine

PLoS Medicine: Published 25 Jan 2011 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000405

 

 

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