[EQ] The impact of health and health behaviours on educational outcomes in high-income countries

The impact of health and health behaviours on educational outcomes in high-income countries:
a review of the evidence

WHO Regional Office for Europe

Copenhagen, Denmark, 2011

Available online PDF [48p.] at: http://bit.ly/giHFXO

 

“…..This study aims to systematically review the current knowledge of the effect that different health conditions and unhealthy behaviours can have on educational outcomes in the context of rich countries. Specifically, we examine research on the following questions.

• Does poor health during childhood or adolescence have a significant impact on educational achievement or performance?

• Does the engagement of children and adolescents in unhealthy behaviours determine their educational attainment and academic performance?

As it turns out, although these questions have not been a major research focus, the evidence that does exist offers a lot to suggest a causal contribution of health to various educational outcomes. While gaps in the research do remain, its results already bear relevant policy implications both for the wider importance of child health in rich countries (extending beyond the health benefits per se) and for the ways in which educational outcomes might be improved.

The publication is structured as follows.
Section 2 we review briefly some of the evidence and hypotheses behind the linkage between health and education in general.
Section 3 presents a conceptual framework to organize the different ways in which health may impact education.
Section 4 describes the literature search methodology.
Section 5 presents the core results of the literature review, first in terms of basic summary statistics and second in a more detailed, synthesis format. The final section draws together our conclusions…..”

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[EQ] Population Aging - Is Latin America Ready?

Population Aging - Is Latin America Ready?

Daniel Cotlear, Editor
Health, Nutrition, and Population Unit in the Human Development Network of the World Bank

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 2011

Available online PDF [324p.] at: http://bit.ly/fbYKFh

“……The past half-century has seen enormous changes in the demographic makeup of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In the 1950s, LAC had a small population of about 160 million people, less than today’s population of Brazil. Two-thirds of Latin Americans lived in rural areas.

Families were large and women had one of the highest fertility rates in the world, low levels of education, and few opportunities for work outside the household. Investments in health and education reached only a small fraction of the children, many of whom died before reaching age five. Since then, the size of the LAC population has tripled and the mostly rural population has been transformed into a largely urban population.

There have been steep reductions in child mortality, and investments in health and education have increased, today reaching a majority of children. Fertility has been more than halved and the opportunities for women in education and for work outside the household have improved significantly. Life expectancy has grown by 22 years. Less obvious to the casual observer, but of significance for policy makers, a population with a large fraction of dependent children has evolved into a population with fewer dependents and a very large proportion of working-age adults…..”
 

“……This overview seeks to introduce the reader to three groups of issues related to population aging in LAC:
First is a group of issues related to the support of the aging and poverty in the life cycle. This covers questions of work and retirement, income and wealth, living arrangements, and intergenerational transfers. It also explores the relation between the life cycle and poverty.
Second is the question of the health transition. How does the demographic transition impact the health status of the population and the demand for health care? And how advanced is the health transition in LAC?
Third is an understanding of the fiscal pressures that are likely to accompany population aging and to disentangle the role of demography from the role of policy in that process. We seek to identify opportunities in these areas that may be missed by policy makers….”

Content:
Chapter 1 Population Aging: Is Latin America Ready?

Chapter 2 Demographic Trends in Latin America and the Caribbean

Chapter 3 Poverty, the Aging, and the Life Cycle in Latin America

Chapter 4 How Age Influences the Demand for Health Care in Latin America

Chapter 5 The Economics of Happiness and Health Policy: How Health Norms Vary across Cohorts in Latin America

Chapter 6 Who Benefits from Public Transfers? Incidence across Income Groups and across Generations in Brazil and Chile

Chapter 7 The Fiscal Impact of Demographic Change in Ten Latin American Countries:
                Projecting Public Expenditures in Education, Health, and Pensions

 

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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] Epidemic Intelligence eTutorial

Epidemic Intelligence eTutorial:
a tool to learn more about the detection and assessment of public health threats

European Center for Disease Prevention and Control ECDC promotes the implementation of Epidemic Intelligence (EI)
March 2011

 

Available online at: http://bit.ly/ig39Jd

 

“……EI can be defined as the process to detect, verify, analyse, assess and investigate public health events that may represent a threat to public health. Providing early warning signals is a central objective of public health surveillance systems.

 

During the last meeting of the Competent Bodies for Threat Detection of the EU Member States held in Stockholm on the 17-18 February 2011, the ECDC Epidemic Intelligence group presented an open electronic tutorial on Epidemic Intelligence activities.

 

This tutorial aims to illustrate the various Epidemic Intelligence steps in a European context and highlights the role both of EU Member States and of the Centre in promoting health security at the EU level.

 

The tutorial has a broad target of potential users and should be considered as a training opportunity for national and international approaches to EI.  It includes suggestions and material that can support in building up and improving capacities on EI principles and procedures in different working contexts. ….”

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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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