Health Equity: 02/15/11

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

[EQ] The Global Economic Cost of Cancer

The Burden of Cancer in Developing Countries

Available online PDF [72p.] http://bit.ly/g52KBP

The Global Economic Cost of Cancer
American Cancer Society and Livestrong - 2010

Available online PDF [14p.] at: http://bit.ly/ggFGOX

“…..Cancer is a growing cause of death worldwide. The cancer burden in low- and middle-income countries is increasingly disproportionate. Globally in 2009, there were an estimated 12.9 million cases of cancer, a number expected to double by 2020, with 60 percent of new cases occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

….Not only do these countries carry more than half the disease burden, they lack the resources for cancer awareness and prevention, early detection, treatment or palliative options to relieve the staggering pain and human suffering if the disease is untreated -- .

……Cancer also has the most devastating economic impact of any cause of death in the world, according to the recent landmark report, "The Global Economic Cost of Cancer," released by the American Cancer Society and Livestrong. Premature deaths and disability from cancer cost the global economy nearly 1 trillion dollars a year. The data from this study provides compelling evidence that balancing the world's global health agenda to address cancer more effectively will save not only millions of lives, but also billions of dollars.

……By making cancer a global priority, as with many other non-communicable diseases, cancer deaths can be prevented an estimated 40 percent or more.

……Capacity building is essential. Ministries of health, education and finance need to be engaged in developing and supporting plans that include both training of personnel to diagnose and treat cancer patients and strategies to reduce costs and strengthen health systems.. ….” From http://huff.to/i59qlW

* * *
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] Latin America and the Caribbean Selected Economic and Social Data

Latin America and the Caribbean: Selected Economic and Social Data, 2010

USAID - Economic Analysis and Data Services (EADS)

Available online at: http://bit.ly/i2btKj

PDF File: http://bit.ly/gaMKmM

"…….As in previous years, the 2010 edition of the LAC Databook includes the most recent data at the time of publication from a multitude of official country sources and leading international institutions. Data tables provide statistics useful for regional analysis; and analytical graphics are presented throughout the book. The presentation of many of the tables and figures in the LAC Databook allows for comparisons to be made across both countries and time. If interpreted with care, the data in this publication can present a useful picture of the state and progress of socioeconomic development in Latin America and the Caribbean…."

Content:
Chapter 1: Overview

◦Chapter 2: Poverty

◦Chapter 3: Health

◦Chapter 4: Education

◦Chapter 5: Environment

◦Chapter 6: Democracy

◦Chapter 7: Economy

◦Chapter 8: U.S.-LAC Trade

◦Chapter 9: Intra-LAC Trade

◦Chapter 10: Investment

◦Chapter 11: U.S. Assistance

◦Chapter 12: Bilateral and Multilateral Assistance

"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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Equity List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html
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[EQ] The Health Systems in Transition (HiT)

The Health Systems in Transition (HiT)

HiT template (2010)

Bernd Rechel, Sarah Thomson, Ewout van Ginneken

World Health Organization 2010, on behalf of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

Available online PDF [110p.] at: http://bit.ly/go92qQ

“…..The current version of the template, published in 2010, is the result of a consultation process with HiT editors, previous HiT authors, Observatory National Lead Institutions (NLIs), WHO Regional Office for Europe, the European Commission, and other Observatory partners. Several sections have been reorganised to improve accessibility and clarity for readers, while the design has been greatly improved to help authors and editors in the writing process.

The result is a template that is more user-friendly for authors as it now includes clear sign posting for ‘essential’ versus ‘discretionary’ sections as well as indicators for tables and figures. Other new features include: summary paragraphs for all chapters; a revised and extended chapter on performance assessment; and increased focus on public health and intersectorality.

The Health Systems in Transition (HiT) profiles are country-based reports that provide detailed descriptions of health systems and policy initiatives using a standard format. HiTs are produced by country experts in collaboration with Observatory staff.

They are building blocks that can be used to:

• examine different approaches to the organization, financing and delivery of health services, and the role of key health system actors;

• describe the institutional framework for and the process, content and implementation of health policy;

• highlight challenges and areas requiring more detailed analysis;

• provide a tool for disseminating information on health systems;

• facilitate the exchange of reform experiences across countries;

• establish a baseline for assessing the impact of reforms; and

• inform comparative analysis.

HiT profiles are based on a template that, revised periodically, provides detailed guidelines and specific questions, definitions, suggestions for data sources, and examples needed to compile HiTs. While the template offers a comprehensive set of questions, it is intended to be used in a flexible way to allow authors and editors to adapt it to their particular national context….”

Full list of HiTs

Health system profiles (HiTs) published in one (or several) of the four official languages of the WHO Regional Office for Europe
http://bit.ly/fhXy0K

[EQ] Method for Synthesizing Knowledge About Public Policies

Method for Synthesizing Knowledge About Public Policies

The National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy, Canada

Institut national de santé publique du Québec - 2010

Available online PDF [65p.] at: http://bit.ly/dRO8Y3

This document is intended for public health actors who, given their role as health promoters, are interested in how public policy can act as a lever for action that affects population health and its determinants. More specifically, this document seeks to meet the needs of public health actors acting as expert advisors to decision makers during the promotion, adoption, and implementation of public policies. Fulfilling this role requires them to synthesize knowledge about how effective public policies are at promoting health (including how effective they are in a given context) and about the issues surrounding the implementation of these policies.

Objective

The objective of this document is to propose a knowledge synthesis method that is applicable to public policies and takes into account not only data linked to their effectiveness, but also data on issues related to their implementation, with the aim of identifying the policies that are most likely to succeed in the specific context in which their implementation is being considered.

Overview

The proposed knowledge synthesis method draws inspiration from political science, policy analysis, literature on evidence-informed decision making in public health, literature on evaluation, and theoretical developments related to deliberative processes. Having integrated these various foundational elements, the proposed methodological approach:

-- applies an analytical framework that takes into consideration not only the effectiveness of public policies, but also their unintended effects, their effects on equity, and the issues related to their implementation (cost, feasibility, and acceptability); and

-- considers a range of quantitative and qualitative data from scientific and non-scientific sources.

Our knowledge synthesis method includes four steps.

· The first involves compiling an inventory of public policies that could address the targeted health problem, and choosing the policy on which the knowledge synthesis will focus.

· The second step is devoted to making explicit the intervention logic (logic model), that is, the sequence of effects expected to link the policy under study to the targeted problem.

· The third step, carried out through means of a literature review, involves synthesizing data on the effects of this policy in contexts in which it has already been implemented (effectiveness, unintended effects, effects related to equity) and on the issues related to its implementation (cost, feasibility, acceptability).

· Finally, the fourth step aims at enriching and contextualizing the data drawn from the literature, through deliberative processes that bring together actors concerned by the targeted health problem and working within the context in which implementation of the policy is being considered. The aim of the deliberative processes is to have these actors discuss the data drawn from the literature, enrich analysis of the data with their own knowledge, and assess the extent to which the data apply to their own context….”

Content

INTRODUCTION

1_ FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYZING PUBLIC POLICIES

1.1_ Dimensions Related to the Effects of Public Policies

1.1.1_ Effectiveness

1.1.2_ Unintended Effects

1.1.3_ Equity

1.2_ Dimensions Related to the Implementation of Public Policies

1.2.1_ Cost

1.2.2_ Feasibility

1.2.3_ Acceptability

1.3_ Relationships Between the Six Dimensions for Analysis

2_ TYPES AND SOURCES OF DATA TO BE CONSIDERED KNOWLEDGE SYNTHESIS METHOD

3.1_ Inventory of Policies and Selection of the Subject of the Knowledge Synthesis

3.1.1_ Exploration of the Grey Literature

3.1.2_ Survey of the Scientific Literature

3.1.3_ Selection of the Subject of the Knowledge Synthesis

3.2_ Explication of the Intervention Logic of the Public Policy Being Studied

3.3_ Synthesis of Data Drawn From the Literature

3.3.1_ Documentary Search

3.3.2_ Appraisal of the Quality of Data

3.3.3_ Data Perusal and Extraction

3.3.4_ Synthesis of Data Drawn From the Literature

3.4_ Enrichment and Contextualization of Data / Deliberative Processes

3.5_ Synthesis _ Integration of the Different Types of Knowledge Gathered

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX 1: List of Selected Websites of Relevance to Public Policy and Health

APPENDIX 2: List of Databases Proposed by the Cochrane Health Promotion and Public Health Field