Monday, June 13, 2011

[EQ] Remembering Prof. Barbara Starfield

Sympathy and condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Professor Barbara Starfield, who died suddenly in California on Friday 10 June 2011



-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Maceira ISEqH
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 12:41 PM

Daniel Maceira on Behalf of ISEqH wants to express its sympathies about the sad news Prof Barbara Starfield passed away on 10/6

Message from the Dean

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Dear colleagues,

I have very sad news. Barbara Starfield, professor of Health Policy and Management, died Friday evening of an apparent heart attack while swimming-an activity that she dearly loved.

Our School has lost one of its great leaders. Barbara was a giant in the field of primary care and health policy who mentored many of us. Her work led to the development of important methodological tools for assessing diagnosed morbidity burden and had worldwide impact. She was steadfast in her belief that a quality primary care system is critical to the future of health care in this country and worldwide and received numerous accolades for her work in this important area.

Barbara came to Johns Hopkins in 1959 as a fellow in pediatrics at the School of Medicine. She joined our School in 1962 where she earned her MPH in epidemiology. As professor, she went on to lead the Division of Health Policy in the Department of Health Policy and Management from 1975 to 1994. After stepping down as Division head, Barbara remained an active member of the HPM faculty and was founding director of the Primary Care Policy Center. She was named Distinguished University Professor in 1994. Barbara was greatly admired as a teacher, mentor and colleague.

I am sure that I speak for all of us when I say that my deepest sympathies are with Tony Holtzman--Barbara's husband, her four children, her eight grandchildren, as well her many friends and colleagues around the world.

We'll provide information about funeral arrangements and a memorial service when they are available.

Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH

Dean

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

 

Web links:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Starfield

http://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/directory/profile/4169/Starfield/Barbara

http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/publishingservices/profiles/100111

http://www.iseqh.org/

http://www.mgfamiliar.net/Starfield_statement.pdf

 

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[EQ] Health Inequalities - A Challenge for Local Authorities

Health Inequalities – A Challenge for Local Authorities

 

Marmot Review Fair Society, Healthy Lives 2011

 

Available online at: http://bit.ly/k6YC8x

“…..The Marmot Review team therefore commissioned the London Health Observatory to provide charts showing key indicators for monitoring health inequalities and the social determinants of health for all ‘upper tier’ local authorities in England – those which will take over the responsibility for public health (3).

The indicators at local authority level are:
- life expectancy at birth;
- children reaching a good level of development at age five;
- young people not in employment,
- education or training (NEET); and,
- percentage of people in households receiving means tested benefits.

In addition there is an index showing the level of social inequalities within each local authority area for: life expectancy at birth; disability free life expectancy at birth, and percentage of people in households receiving means tested benefits. The higher the value of the index the greater the inequality (4).

Commenting, eminent public health specialist and author of Fair Society, Health Lives, Professor Sir Michael Marmot said:

‘Health inequalities are a tragic waste of life and health and cost this country tens of billions of pounds every year in lost productivity, welfare payments and costs to the NHS from ill health (10). The evidence is very clear: investing in pre-school years pays most dividends.

We already know that by the age of 10 a child from a poorer background will have lost any advantage of intelligence indicated at 22 months; whereas a child from an affluent family will have improved his or her cognitive scores purely because of his/her advantaged background.

We now have the baseline measurements for tackling health inequalities, using a social determinants approach. The Coalition Government is working in the right direction by transferring the responsibility of preventing ill health to local authorities. We need to ensure that local authorities invest money and expertise to ensure long-term reductions in health inequalities.’

 Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our Strategy for Public Health in England was published by the Coalition Government in November 2010. The White Paper sets out the Government’s long-term vision for the future of public health in England. It responds to the Marmot Review, adopting a life course framework for tackling the social determinants of health. The aim is to create a ‘wellness’ service (Public Health England) and to strengthen both national and local leadership http://bit.ly/mhiUpv

Main policy recommendations from Fair Society, Health Lives:

1. Giving every child the best start in life (highest priority recommendation) – what happens during early years (starting in the womb) has lifelong effects on many aspects of health and well-being from obesity, heart disease and mental health, to educational achievement and economic status. Later interventions, although important, are considerably less effective where good early foundations are lacking. That is why the Review proposes a rebalancing of public spending towards the early years, more parenting support programmes, a well-trained early years work force and high quality early years care.

2. Enabling all children, young people and adults to maximize their capabilities and have control over their lives – educational achievement brings with it a whole range of achievements including better employment, income and physical and mental health. Evidence suggests it is families rather than schools that have the most influence on educational attainment therefore building closer links between schools, the family, and the local community are important to reducing educational inequalities.

3. Creating fair employment and good work for all – being in employment is protective of health; conversely unemployment contributes to poor health. Jobs need to offer a decent living wage, opportunities for in-work development, good management practices, the flexibility to enable people to balance work and family life, and protection from adverse working conditions that can damage health.

4. Ensuring a healthy standard of living for all – having insufficient money to lead a healthy life is a highly significant cause of health inequalities. Standards for a minimum income for healthy living  (MIHL) need to be developed and implemented – the calculation includes the level of income needed for adequate nutrition, physical activity, housing, individual and community interactions, transport, medical care and hygiene.

5. Creating and developing sustainable places and communities – many policies which would help mitigate climate change would also help reduce health inequalities – for instance more walking, cycling and green spaces. The Review proposes common policies to reduce the scale and impact of climate change and health inequalities. Good quality neighbourhoods can make a significant difference to quality of life and health – this relates both to the physical environment and to the social environment. Social support, within and between communities is critical to physical and mental well-being.

6. Strengthening the role and impact of ill-health prevention - many of the key health behaviours important for the development of chronic disease follow the social gradient: smoking, obesity, lack of physical activity, unhealthy nutrition and drug misuse. The Review argues for more funding to prevent ill health (currently it is only four percent of the NHS budget) and action to treat drug misuse as a medical problem. The NHS alone cannot tackle the social causes of ill health, action must come from families, schools, employers and government.

 


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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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Equity List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html
Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho







IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended
recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or
confidential information. If you are not the intended
recipient or a person responsible for delivering this
transmission to the intended recipient, you may not
disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take
any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission
in error, please dispose of and delete this transmission.

Thank you.