Health Equity: July 2012

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

[EQ] Developing a comprehensive time series of GDP per capita for 210 countries from 1950 to 2015

Developing a comprehensive time series of GDP per capita for 210 countries from 1950 to 2015

Spencer L James, Paul Gubbins, Christopher JL Murray, Emmanuela Gakidou

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Population Health Metrics 2012, 10:12 (30 July 2012)

Available online at: http://t.co/zqzn3pNS

Income has been extensively studied and utilized as a determinant of health. There are several sources of income expressed as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, but there are no time series that are complete for the years between 1950 and 2015 for the 210 countries for which data exist. It is in the interest of population health research to establish a global time series that is complete from 1950 to 2015.

Methods

We collected GDP per capita estimates expressed in either constant US dollar terms or international dollar terms (corrected for purchasing power parity) from seven sources. We applied several stages of models, including ordinary least-squares regressions and mixed effects models, to complete each of the seven source series from 1950 to 2015. The three US dollar and four international dollar series were each averaged to produce two new GDP per capita series.

Results and discussion

Nine complete series from 1950 to 2015 for 210 countries are available for use. These series can serve various analytical purposes and can illustrate myriad economic trends and features.

The derivation of the two new series allows for researchers to avoid any series-specific biases that may exist. The modeling approach used is flexible and will allow for yearly updating as new estimates are produced by the source series.

Conclusion

GDP per capita is a necessary tool in population health research, and our development and implementation of a new method has allowed for the most comprehensive known time series to date. ….”

KMC/2012/HSS
Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho

* * *
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”.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAHO/WHO Website
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.

Monday, July 30, 2012

[EQ] A systems science perspective and transdisciplinary models for food and nutrition security

A systems science perspective and transdisciplinary models for food and nutrition security

Ross A. Hammond a, and Laurette Dubé b

A Center on Social Dynamics and Policy, The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; USA
b McGill World Platform for Health and Economic Convergence, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Edited by Prabhu Pingali, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA

PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Doi: 10.1073/pnas.0913003109 -PNAS July 23, 2012

Available online PDF [8p.] at: http://bit.ly/PceIuV

“….Food and nutrition security remains a pressing global problem, with most countries experiencing one or both of the twin challenges of malnutrition and obesity. We have argued that the drivers of food and nutrition security are complex, multilevel, multisectoral, and heterogeneous.

This paper reviewed structural components, feedback loops, and linkages between agrifood, health and disease, and environmental systems, which are key underlying drivers of sustainable food and nutrition security for smallholders and worldwide.

These complex interconnections pose challenges for design of effective policy and for scientific study using many standard tools…”

KMC/2012/FCH
Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho

Thank you.

[EQ] The challenges confronting clinicians in rural acute care settings

The challenges confronting clinicians in rural acute care settings:
a participatory research project

Paliadelis PS, Parmenter G, Parker V, Giles M, Higgins I
Rural Remote Health. 2012 ; vol. 12(2) pp. 2017

Available online PDF [12p.] at: http://bit.ly/QZiMVe

INTRODUCTION: In Australia, as in many other developed countries, the current healthcare environment is characterised by increasing differentiation and patient acuity, aging of patients and workforce, staff shortages and a varied professional skills mix, and this is particularly so in rural areas.
Rural healthcare clinicians are confronted with a broad range of challenges in their daily practice. Within this context, the challenges faced by rural acute care clinicians were explored and innovative strategies suggested.
This article reports the findings of a study that explored these challenges across disciplines in acute healthcare facilities in rural New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

METHODS: A mixed method approach, involving a consultative, participatory 3 stage data collection process was employed to engage with a range of healthcare clinicians from rural acute care facilities in NSW. Participants were invited to complete a survey, followed by focus group discussions and finally facilitated workshops using nominal group technique.

RESULTS: The survey findings identified the respondents' top ranked challenges.
These were organised into four categories:
(1) workforce issues;
(2) access, equity and opportunity;
(3) resources; and
(4) contextual issues.
Participants in the focus groups were provided with a summary of the survey findings to prompt discussion about the challenges identified and impact of these on their professional and personal lives. The results of the final workshop stage of the study used nominal group process to focus the discussion on identifying strategies to address identified challenges.

CONCLUSIONS: This study builds on research conducted in a large metropolitan tertiary referral hospital. While it was found that rural clinicians share some of the challenges identified by their metropolitan counterparts, some identified challenges and solutions were unique to the rural context and require the innovative solutions suggested by the participants. This article provides insight into the working world of rural healthcare clinicians and offers practical solutions to some of the identified issues. The findings of this study may assist rurally based healthcare services to attract and retain clinical staff.

KMC/2012/HSS
Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho

Thank you.

[EQ] From efficacy to equity: Literature review of decision criteria for resource allocation and healthcare decisionmaking

From efficacy to equity:
Literature review of decision criteria for resource allocation and healthcare decisionmaking

Guindo LA, Wagner M, Baltussen R, Rindress D, van Til J, Kind P, Goetghebeur MM
Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E. 2012 Jul 18; vol. 10(1)

Available online PDF [27p.] at: http://bit.ly/Nf4BEY

Objectives:
Resource allocation is a challenging issue faced by health policy decisionmakers requiring careful consideration of many factors.
Objectives of this study were to identify decision criteria reported in the literature on healthcare decisionmaking.

Method:
An extensive literature search was performed in Medline and EMBASE to identify articles reporting healthcare decision criteria. Studies conducted with decisionmakers (e.g., focus groups, surveys, interviews), conceptual and review articles and articles describing tools were included. Criteria were extracted, organized using a classification system derived from the EVIDEM framework and applying multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) principles, and the frequency of their occurrence was measured.

Results:
Out of 3146 records identified, 2790 were excluded. Out of 356 articles assessed for eligibility, 39 were included in the study. Criteria were identified from studies performed in several regions of the world involving decisionmakers at micro, meso and macro levels of decision and from studies reporting on multicriteria tools. Large variations in terminology used to define criteria were observed and 338 different terms were identified.

These were assigned to 58 criteria which were classified in 9 different categories including: health outcomes; types of benefit; disease impact; therapeutic context; economic impact; quality of evidence; implementation complexity; priority, fairness and ethics; and overall context.
The most frequently mentioned criteria were:
equity/fairness (33 times),
efficacy/effectiveness (28),
healthcare stakeholder interests and pressures (28),
cost-effectiveness (24),
strength of evidence (20),
safety (19),
mission and mandate of health system (18),
need (16),
organizational requirements and capacity (18) and
patient-reported outcomes (16).

Conclusion:
This study highlights the importance of considering both normative and feasibility criteria for fair allocation of resources and optimized decisionmaking for coverage and use of healthcare interventions. This analysis provides a foundation to develop a questionnaire for an international survey of decisionmakers on criteria and their relative importance. The ultimate objective is to develop sound multicriteria approaches to enlighten healthcare decisionmaking and priority-setting.

KMC/2012/HSS
Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho

Thank you.

Friday, July 27, 2012

[EQ] The Right to a Better Life - Strategy for Denmark's Development Cooperation

The Right to a Better Life
- Strategy for Denmark’s Development Cooperation

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark - June 2012

Available online PDF [44p.] at: http://bit.ly/Ojncp5

“…………Poverty has many faces. Hunger and high child mortality are among the harshest expressions of poverty. Others are conflict, insecurity, oppression and vulnerability towards disasters.

We all know the stories of children who work instead of going to school and of families wiped out by diseases which could have been cured. However, poverty is also about women, men, girls and boys unable to claim their rights and influence their own lives.

Denmark’s development cooperation must fight the many faces of poverty and promote coherence between our policies. To do this effectively, we cannot just focus on the most obvious symptoms. We must also address the structures that keep people in poverty and societies in inequality. Denmark’s development cooperation must be anchored locally and build on democratic ownership, and here human rights are central. If we help poor people fight for their rights, then we also fight the main causes of poverty. Consequently, the aim of Danish development policy is both to fight poverty and promote human rights….”

Contents

- Poverty, human rights and growth – sustainable development

- A developing world

- A human rights-based approach

- Human rights and democracy

- Green growth

- Social progress

- Stability and protection

- Flexible partnerships

- Results and effectiveness

KMC/2012/SDE
Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho

Thank you.

[EQ] Implementation research evidence uptake and use for policy-making

Implementation research evidence uptake and use for policy-making

Ulysses Panisset 1; Tracey Pérez Koehlmoos 2; Ahmad Hamdi Alkhatib 3; Tomás Pantoja 4 ;Prabal Singh 5; Jane Kengey-Kayondo 6; Ben McCutchen 7

1 Coordinator, Evidence Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet), Department of Knowledge Management and Sharing, WHO

2 Programme Head, Health & Family Planning Systems Programme, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

3 Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University; Forum Fellow, McMaster Health Forum, Canada

4 Family Medicine Department, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

5 ACCESS Health International Inc., Centre for Emerging Markets Solutions, Indian School of Business, Andhra Pradesh, India

6 Strategic Alliances, Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), WHO

7 Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Canada

Health Research Policy and Systems – July 2012, 10:20 doi:10.1186/1478-4505-10-20

Available online PDF [13p.] at: http://bit.ly/MbJvNV

“……A major obstacle to the progress of the Millennium Development Goals has been the inability of health systems in many low- and middle-income countries to effectively implement evidence-informed interventions.

This article discusses the relationships between implementation research and knowledge translation and identifies the role of implementation research in the design and execution of evidence-informed policy. After a discussion of the benefits and synergies needed to translate implementation research into action, the article discusses how implementation research can be used along the entire continuum of the use of evidence to inform policy. It provides specific examples of the use of implementation research in national level programmes by looking at the scale up of zinc for the treatment of childhood diarrhoea in Bangladesh and the scaling up of malaria treatment in Burkina Faso.

A number of tested strategies to support the transfer of implementation research results into policy-making are provided to help meet the standards that are increasingly expected from evidence-informed policy-making practices…”

“……Implementation research is an integral part of the knowledge translation (KT) continuum. Emphasis must be placed not only on its production, but also on its quality, proper use and uptake in decision-making. In order to more effectively implement evidence informed policy, policy-makers and researchers should learn together and work in partnership to improve access and delivery.

Steps should be taken to increase the demand for research use and knowledge translation (KT) through sustainable partnerships and mechanisms, including KT platforms (at the district, provincial and national levels) that promote the early involvement of policy-makers, managers, health care providers and patients and serve as the basis for capacity-strengthening activities….”

KMC/2012/FCH
Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho

Thank you.

[EQ] Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising

Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2012

Website: http://bit.ly/N2aE0n

“…….The gap between rich and poor in OECD countries has reached its highest level for over over 30 years, and governments must act quickly to tackle inequality, according to this OECD report.

The report notes that the average income of the richest 10% is now about nine times that of the poorest 10 % across the OECD. The income gap has risen even in traditionally egalitarian countries, such as Germany, Denmark and Sweden, from 5 to 1 in the 1980s to 6 to 1 today. The gap is 10 to 1 in Italy, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom, and higher still, at 14 to 1 in Israel, Turkey and the United States.

In Chile and Mexico, the incomes of the richest are still more than 25 times those of the poorest, the highest in the OECD, but have finally started dropping. Income inequality is much higher in some major emerging economies outside the OECD area. At 50 to 1, Brazil's income gap remains much higher than in many other countries, although it has been falling significantly over the past decade.

“…….Globalisation and technological changes offer opportunities but also raise challenges that can be tackled with effective and well-targeted policies. Any policy strategy to reduce the growing divide between rich and poor should rest on three main pillars: more intensive human capital investment; inclusive employment promotion; and well-designed tax/transfer redistribution policies…..”

This report analyses the major underlying forces behind these developments:

Content:

- An Overview of Growing Income Inequalities in OECD Countries

- Special Focus: Inequality in Emerging Economies

- Part I. How Globalisation, Technological Change and Policies Affect Wage and Earnings Inequalities

- Part II. How Inequalities in Labour Earnings Lead to Inequalities in Household Disposable Income

- Part III. How the Roles of Tax and Transfer Systems Have Changed

KMC/2012/SDE
Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho

Thank you.