Health Equity: 11/28/11

Monday, November 28, 2011

[EQ] The WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel - The Evolution of Global Health Diplomacy

The WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel:
The Evolution of Global Health Diplomacy

Global Health Governance, Vol. V, Issue 1, Fall 2011
Allyn L. Taylor and Ibadat S. Dhillon

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

“……..The May 2010 adoption of the World Health Organization Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel created a global architecture, including ethical norms and institutional and legal arrangements, to guide international cooperation and serve as a platform for continuing dialogue on the critical problem of health worker migration.

Highlighting the contribution of non-binding instruments to global health governance, this article describes the Code negotiation process from its early stages to the formal adoption of the final text of the Code. Detailed are the vigorous negotiations amongst key stakeholders, including the active role of non-governmental organizations.

The article emphasizes the importance of political leadership, appropriate sequencing, and support for capacity building of developing countries¹ negotiating skills to successful global health negotiations. It also reflects on how the dynamics of the Code negotiation process evidence an evolution in global health negotiations amongst the WHO Secretariat, civil society, and WHO Member States…..”

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[EQ] Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes: The recent experience in Latin America and the Caribbean

Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes: The recent experience in Latin America and the Caribbean

Simone Cecchini, Social Affairs Officer
Social Development Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 2011
Aldo Madariaga, research assistant, in the framework of the component “Social assistance: poverty reduction and income redistribution through conditional

transfer programmes“ of the ECLAC/Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) Cooperation Programme 2010-2011 “Social protection and social inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean”

Available online PDF [214p.] at: http://bit.ly/sUbHUT

“….This document summarizes experience with conditional cash transfer or “co-responsibility” (CCT) programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean, over a period lasting more than 15 years. During this time, CCTs have consolidated and spread through the region’s various countries as a tool of choice for poverty-reduction policy.

According to the ECLAC database of non-contributory social protection programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean, CCTs are currently being implemented in 18 of the region’s countries, benefiting over 25 million families (about 113 million people) or 19% of the regional population, at a cost of around 0.4% of regional gross domestic product (GDP).

The basic structure of CCTs entails the transfer of monetary and nonmonetary resources to families with young children, living in poverty or extreme poverty, on condition that they fulfil specific commitments aimed at improving their human capacities. Despite the, as yet, inconclusive debates on the appropriateness of these programmes and their results in different domains, they have been hailed as representing a major step in connecting poor and indigent families with school-age children to broader and more comprehensive social-protection systems.

This document, which it is hoped will serve as a basis and input for discussion and progress in building social-protection systems premised on inclusion and universal rights, provides detailed information on the different components of CCTs. It also reviews their main characteristics in terms of the definition and registration of programme users, the targeting mechanisms used, the various types of benefits provided, and the conditionalities attached to them. It then analyses the historical trend of the indicators of CCT investment and coverage, and the information available on their effects in different domains. Lastly, it makes an assessment of the experience and the main challenges that these programmes pose in terms of their sustainability, legal framework, accountability, participation, institutionality and inter-sectoral characteristics….”

Content:
Chapter I Introduction

Chapter II General characteristics of conditional cash transfer programmes

A. Target population

B. Targeting mechanisms

C. Instruments for the selection and registration of target populations

D. Exit criteria

Chapter III Benefits and conditionalities

A. Demand-side benefits

1. Monetary transfers

2. Non-monetary transfers

3. Provision of services and access to other programmes

B. Supply-side provisions

C. Conditionalities

1. Types of conditionality

2. Sanctions and the monitoring of conditionalities

3. Evaluation of conditionalities

Chapter IV Investment and coverage

A. Countries’ efforts towards eradicating extreme poverty

Chapter V Impact

A. Human capacity indicators

B. Income inequality and poverty indicators

C. Consumption

D. Income generation and labour market insertion

E. Child labour

F. Women’s empowerment

Chapter VI Institutional framework and sustainability

A. Financial and political sustainability

B. Legal framework and institutional anchoring

C. Accountability and citizen participation

D. Transparency of beneficiary records

E. Cross-sector integration

Chapter VII Final observations

Annex

Bibliography.

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[EQ] International Profiles of Health Care Systems

International Profiles of Health Care Systems: Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States

S. Thomson, R. Osborn, D. Squires, and S. J. Reed
November 9, 2011 - The Commonwealth Fund

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

“…..This publication presents overviews of the health care systems of Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
Each overview covers health insurance, public and private financing, health system organization, quality of care, health disparities, efficiency and integration, use of health information technology, use of evidence-based practice, cost containment, and recent reforms and innovations.

In addition, summary tables provide data on a number of key health system characteristics and performance indicators, including overall health care spending, hospital spending and utilization, health care access, patient safety, care coordination, chronic care management, disease prevention, capacity for quality improvement, and public views…….”

Content:

Executive Summary

Project Goals and Specific Aims

Background

Methods Overview

Results

Summary of Key Findings

Conclusions

References

Appendix I. Detailed Project Methodology

Appendix II. Measures Identified from Literature Search

Appendix III. Conceptual Frameworks and Draft Measure Concepts

Appendix IV. Care Coordination Advisory Panel

Appendix V. Wave 3 Site Visit Findings: Implication of Data Availability and Access on Measure Implementation

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[EQ] New tool on Social Determinants of Health now available

New tool on Social Determinants of Health now available

ACTION:SDH at: http://bit.ly/rBjlT9 .

This tool is being brought to the public health community by the World Health Organization with the aim of providing public health, and other practitioners on the social determinants of health, with a one-stop portal.

ACTION:SDH houses knowledge on the social determinants according to the five social determinants of health action areas identified in the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health in October 2011.

It also provides a platform for discussion of action on the social determinants of health. We invite all in the social determinants of health community to register on ACTION:SDH. We are also actively seeking partners interested in collaborating in building up the tool, together with its users (contact: actionsdh@who.int).

There are currently three main features to the tool, which we hope to develop jointly with you, and other partners within and beyond WHO:

i. embedded web-pages pages on SDH knowledge relevant to the five action areas for SDH that were identified in the Rio Declaration;

ii. discussion forums that can be used to share tacit knowledge from practice - either by invitation only, or open to all members;

iii. a document repository that initially is housing selected WHO materials on SDH - documents are classified as Examples (case studies), Tools & Resources, and E-library.

Other standard website features also exist, such as an area for advertising upcoming training (Campus) and upcoming meetings (Events).

WHO website: http://bit.ly/u7YMza

Dr Rüdiger Krech Director, Department of Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights
World Health Organization WHO
Geneva Switzerland

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