Health Equity: September 2012

Friday, September 28, 2012

[EQ] Using early intervention to reduce inequality

Boston Review - September/October 2012- Lead Essay:

Promoting Social Mobility

James J. Heckman - Nobel laureate and the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago.

His article is based in part on his paper “Schools, Skills, and Synapses.” http://bit.ly/Q9nzkf

This article leads off our debate on using early intervention to reduce inequality, with responses from Mike Rose, Robin West, Charles Murray, Carol S. Dweck, David Deming, Neal McCluskey, Annette Lareau, Lelac Almagor, Adam Swift and Harry Brighouse, and Geoffrey Canada.

FORUM Website: - http://bit.ly/NVOodA

“…….The accident of birth is a principal source of inequality in America today. American society is dividing into skilled and unskilled, and the roots of this division lie in early childhood experiences. Kids born into disadvantaged environments are at much greater risk of being unskilled, having low lifetime earnings, and facing a range of personal and social troubles, including poor health, teen pregnancy, and crime. While we celebrate equality of opportunity, we live in a society in which birth is becoming fate.

This powerful impact of birth on life chances is bad for individuals born into disadvantage. And it is bad for American society. We are losing out on the potential contributions of large numbers of our citizens.

It does not have to be this way. With smart social policy, we can arrest the polarization between skilled and unskilled. But smart policy needs to be informed by the best available scientific evidence. It requires serious attention to the costs of alternative policies, as well as to their benefits. Close attention to the evidence suggests three large lessons for social policy……...”

FORUM RESPONSES

Mike Rose - Policy interventions in poor people’s lives should address the fact that they are poor.

Robin West - As family ideals go, Heckman’s model is remarkably unjust.

Charles Murray - A small number of studies report positive results for early intervention programs; most do not.

Carol S. Dweck - Interventions for adolescents can be inexpensive and efficient.

David Deming - Programs vary in quality, but any is better than none.

Neal McCluskey - Private entities, not government, should study and expand early childhood interventions.

Annette Lareau - Don’t ignore failing social institutions that compound poor children’s disadvantage.

Lelac Almagor - We need to know the details of successful intervention.

Adam Swift - Harry Brighouse - Interventions may impose white, middle-class norms, but that shouldn’t stop reformers.

Geoffrey Canada - Children at risk belong to all of us; we need to start acting that way.

James J. Heckman replies --The right interventions empower people to be what they want to be without forcing them to adopt one way of life over another.

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

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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

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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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Thank you.

[EQ] PAHO/WHO Vacancy: Manager, Planning, Budget and Institutional Development

PAHO/WHO Vacancy Notice No: PAHO/12/FT374

Title: Manager, Planning, Budget and Institutional Development

Grade: D1

Application Deadline: 22 October 2012

Duty Station: Washington, D.C., United States of America

Website: http://bit.ly/QKuKyl

Objectives:

Planning, Budget and Institutional Development (PBI) is responsible for strategic and operational planning, budget management, institutional development, resource coordination, and performance monitoring and assessment processes in the Organization. It is also in charge of program management, identification, design, piloting, negotiation, and evaluation of voluntary contribution projects. Leads and coordinates the management of the management information system of the Bureau, working in coordination with the different business owners.

PBI ensures that the mandates of the Governing Bodies and relevant international fora are addressed by the PAHO´s Strategic Plan, which in turn should be aligned with the Health Agenda for the Americas and the Global Health Agenda and Global Program of Work of the World Health Organization (WHO).

PBI leads the Organization's Results-based Management framework in coordination with the PASB Executive Management and working with all entity managers. It contributes to the organizational learning through sharing of lessons learned from different assessments and evaluations conducted at all levels of the Bureau.

KMC/2012/KMC
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

Thank you.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

[EQ] Report on Citizen Security in the Americas 2012 OAS/OEA

From: Coimbra, Luiz
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012

Publication in English. Articles are published in their original language (English or Spanish.)

Report on Citizen Security in the Americas 2012
Official Statistical Information on Citizen Security provided by Organization of American States OAS Member States

Informe sobre Seguridad Ciudadana en las Américas 2012 :
Estadísticas oficiales de Seguridad Ciudadana producidas por los Estados miembros de la Organización de los Estados Americanos OEA.

Organization of American States. Secretariat for Multidimensional Security

(OEA documentos oficiales) (OAS Official Records Series) ISBN 978-0-8270-5881-1 – 2012

OAS Hemispheric Security Observatory website
Available online PDF [164p.] at: http://bit.ly/Qzemn8

This publication has been supported by various organizations, entities and collaborators as the Government of Canada's Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program (ACCBP) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

The OAS Report on Citizen Security in the Americas 2012 presents 141 indicators, 78 tables, more than 20,000 numbers on: 
  violent deaths (homicide, suicide, transportation fatalities); robbery and other police administrative records; data on prisons; 
  drug supply and demand; police and private security staff; and the results of Victimization Surveys, for all 34 OAS member countries.

Thank you.

[EQ] Who Sets the Global Health Research Agenda? The Challenge of Multi-Bi Financing

Who Sets the Global Health Research Agenda?
The Challenge of Multi-Bi Financing

Devi Sridhar, Blavatnik School of Government & Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

PLoS Med 9(9): e1001312. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001312 - September 25, 2012

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

“…….A major challenge in the governance of research funding is priority-setting. As a former health minister in sub-Saharan Africa noted, “Everyone is chasing the money—reputable universities, the UN agencies, partnerships, civil society groups, so who is actually doing what developing countries really need, rather than what donors want?” [1]

The past 15 years have been called revolutionary in global health in terms of the funding raised and the number of initiatives launched. One of the side effects of having more money, institutions, and initiatives in global health is increased competition among the various parties. And, the priorities of funding bodies largely dictate what health issues and diseases are studied.

In this Essay, I argue that the challenge of agenda-setting that occurs in research funding is a consequence of a larger phenomenon in global health, “multi-bi financing.”

Multilateral funding refers to monies given to an organization that involves two or more governments or other institutions, the prime example being the United Nations; bilateral funding refers to monies given from one government or institution to another such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) grants to Haiti.

Multi-bi financing refers to the practice of donors choosing to route non-core funding—earmarked for specific sectors, themes, countries, or regions—through multilateral agencies and to the emergence of new multistakeholder initiatives. Drawing on insights from political science and international relations, I put forward an explanation for why these developments are occurring and discuss the consequences for global health research governance….” [au]

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

Thank you.

[EQ] Systems thinking for health systems strengthening in LMICs: seizing the opportunity

Systems thinking for health systems strengthening in low- and middle-income countries LMICs:
seizing the opportunity

Guest Editors:
Taghreed Adam, Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Don de Savigny, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Health, Policy and Planning - Volume 27 suppl 4 October 2012

Website: http://bit.ly/NTcENt

Editorial

Taghreed Adam andDon de Savigny

Systems thinking for strengthening health systems in LMICs: need for a paradigm shift
http://bit.ly/QeNJ3v

“…………We need new ways of thinking and of working in order to accommodate the complexity of the challenges in and urgent need for health system innovation and change.’ (Herbert and Best 2011)

Health systems are complex. Failing to take this complexity into account will continue to hinder efforts to achieve better and more equitable health outcomes. Understanding and working with complexity requires a paradigm shift from linear, reductionist approaches to dynamic and holistic approaches that appreciate the multifaceted and interconnected relationships among health system components, as well as the views, interests and power of its different actors and stakeholders.

Systems thinking helps to re-orient our perspectives by expanding our understanding of the characteristics of complex adaptive systems and identifying how this learning may be applied to system problems and the creation of potential solutions. Long used in other disciplines, systems thinking holds great yet largely untapped potential for health systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Systems thinking is primarily a way of thinking in approaching problems and in designing solutions. It is an approach to problem solving that appreciates the very nature of complex systems as dynamic, constantly changing, governed by history and by feedback, where the role and influence of stakeholders and context is critical, and where new policies and actions (of different stakeholders) often generate counterintuitive and unpredictable effects, sometimes long after policies have been implemented.

Systems thinking can be applied regardless of the field of enquiry. It is a way to view the world using the general logic underlying the various systems … .”

Commentary

Rifat Atun

Health systems, systems thinking and innovation

Review

Taghreed Adam, Justine Hsu, Don de Savigny, John N Lavis, John-Arne Røttingen, and Sara Bennett

Evaluating health systems strengthening interventions in low-income and middle-income countries: are we asking the right questions?

Original articles

Irene Akua Agyepong, Augustina Kodua, Sam Adjei, and Taghreed Adam

When ‘solutions of yesterday become problems of today’: crisis-ridden decision making in a complex adaptive system (CAS)—the Additional Duty Hours Allowance in Ghana

Don de Savigny, Jayne Webster, Irene Akua Agyepong, Alex Mwita, Constance Bart-Plange, Aba Baffoe-Wilmot, Hannah Koenker, Karen Kramer, Nick Brown, and Christian Lengeler
Introducing vouchers for malaria prevention in Ghana and Tanzania: context and adoption of innovation in health systems

David H Peters, Ligia Paina, and Sara Bennett

Expecting the unexpected: applying the Develop-Distort Dilemma to maximize positive market impacts in health

Commentaries

R Chad Swanson, Adriano Cattaneo, Elizabeth Bradley, Somsak Chunharas, Rifat Atun, Kaja M Abbas, Korina Katsaliaki, Navonil Mustafee, Benjamin Mason Meier, and Allan Best

Rethinking health systems strengthening: key systems thinking tools and strategies for transformational change

Cameron D Willis, Barbara L Riley, Allan Best, and Pierre Ongolo-Zogo

Strengthening health systems through networks: the need for measurement and feedback

Thank you.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

[EQ] Online launch of The Lancet Series on Universal Health Coverage - Live Video Webcast Wednesday, September 26th - 6:30-9:00pm EST

The Rockefeller Foundation, The Lancet, and Results for Development Institute are pleased to invite you to attend the launch of:

The Lancet Series on Universal Health Coverage

Featuring:

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization,
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and
Dr. Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation.

This event will be streamed live: http://bit.ly/Oq0htR

Wednesday, September 26^th - 6:30-9:00pm

Grand Hyatt New York -109 East 42nd Street at Grand Central Terminal- New York, NY 10017

As the global movement towards universal health coverage (UHC) continues to grow, numerous countries are experimenting with models for moving toward UHC utilizing health financing mechanisms to protect against financial risk, increase access to essential health services, and improve health outcomes. This Series highlights multiple facets of what is happening with UHC globally including a perspective on the historical evolution of the economics and policy behind it, evidence on the effects of universal health coverage UHC on health outcomes, and an exploration of progress towards universal health coverage UHC in nine Asian and African countries.

Confirmed speakers include:

Dr. Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization

Dr. David de Ferranti, President of the Results for Development Institute

Dr. Ali Ghufron Mukti, Vice-Minister of Health, Indonesia

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Minister of Health, Ethiopia

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Colombia University

Watch the Live Video Webcast beginning at 6:45pm EST.

Universal Health Coverage

The Lancet - Themed issue, published Sept 7, 2012

Website: http://bit.ly/PA24Ye

“……….Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization WHO, has stated that "Universal Health Coverage is the single most powerful concept that public health has to offer."

In this themed issue of The Lancet, the first of three Series papers explores the evidence on the links between expansions in coverage and population health outcomes. The second paper looks at the political and economic dimensions of the transition to universal health coverage, and the third examines nine low-income and lower-middle-income countries in Africa and Asia that have implemented national health insurance reforms. Also, a Viewpoint calls for continued progress and argues for a large public sector role in health systems reform.

What becomes clear in this issue is that although universal health coverage is not a guarantee for progress, attention should focus now not on whether, but on how to make the most of the transition. In a Comment, Judith Rodin and David de Ferranti conclude: "what will emerge in the decades ahead in each country undertaking reform is not entirely clear, but, as this Series and many country examples suggest, we are getting closer to a time when this [transition toward universal health coverage] will be achieved and families will no longer be at risk of having the cost of sickness ruin their lives."

Comments

Universal health coverage: a third global health transition?

Judith Rodin, David de Ferranti

Full Text

Universal health coverage: good health, good economics

Julio Frenk, David de Ferranti

Full Text

Universal health coverage is a development issue

David B Evans, Robert Marten, Carissa Etienne

Full Text

Series Papers

Does Progress Towards Universal Health Coverage Improve Population Health?