Tuesday, January 3, 2012

[EQ] Case studies address global health research, partnerships, equity

Case studies address global health research, partnerships, equity

Edited by Zoë Boutilier, Ibrahim Daibes and Erica Di Ruggiero
BMC International Health and Human Rights - Volume 11 Supplement 2 – November 2011

Available free online at: http://bit.ly/x5yRI7

Sustainable partnerships. Community engagement. Impact on health policy and practice. These are among the common themes in a collection of 10 case studies showcasing effective global health research.

The special issue is an initiative supported by Canada's Global Health Research Initiative (GHRI).

The collection provides practical, transferable lessons for research partnerships working to address health inequities.

“…….The papers in this important collection reflect a mature and confident way of doing global health research which is anything but business-as-usual. In the context of increasing competition for individual or institutional “leadership” of the field (and business) of global health, these contributors instead speak of active and sustained collaboration -- listening, responsiveness, flexibility, willingness and capacity to follow as well as to lead -- in learning what to transform or sustain, and how, in order to move towards greater equity in both health and health research.

Each paper and the collection as a whole is an important contribution to the evidence base for a range of issues from maternal health, HIV and access to services, to chronic disease, health system strengthening, occupational health, ecosystemic approaches to health, and social inclusion, exclusion, and neglect. In addition, they challenge conventional models of research focused on narrowly defined research questions and a narrow range of pre-specified research methods, documenting instead how both the research questions and the methods most appropriate to address them change over time.

Finally, they challenge both the idea of “pure” science undertaken by independent researchers on behalf of science and specific communities, and the conventional wisdom that North-South and research-research user-community partnerships are necessarily either North and researcher-driven, or scientifically dubious. The papers are, on the whole, circumspect in their claims, and honest about the limitations and frustrations facing research-based teams seeking to challenge or transform entrenched socio-political hierarchies and inequities…..”

The collection is available free online.

· Global health research, partnership, and equity: no more business-as-usual.

· Global health research case studies: lessons from partnerships addressing health inequities.

· Reducing inequalities in health and access to health care in a rural Indian community: an India-Canada collaborative action research project.

· Maternal deaths in Pakistan: intersection of gender, caste, and social exclusion.

· Establishing a community of practice of researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and communities to sustainably manage environmental health risks in Ecuador. (Available in Spanish)

· An agriculture and health inter-sectorial research process to reduce hazardous pesticide health impacts among smallholder farmers in the Andes.

· Strengthening integrated research and capacity development within the Caribbean region.

· Collaboration between infection control and occupational health in three continents: A success story with international impact.

· Challenges of scaling up and of knowledge transfer in an action research project in Burkina Faso to exempt the worst-off from health care user fees.

· Partnership Research on Nutrition Transition and Chronic Diseases in West Africa – Trends, Outcomes and Impacts.

· Evaluating a streamlined clinical tool and educational outreach intervention for health care workers in Malawi: The PALM PLUS case study.

· Comparing antiretroviral treatment outcomes between a prospective community-based and hospital-based cohort of HIV patients in rural Uganda.

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[EQ] Health research systems: promoting health equity or economic competitiveness?

Health research systems:
promoting health equity or economic competitiveness?

Bridget Pratt & Bebe Loff
Michael Kirby Centre for Public Health and Human Rights, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Bulletin of the World Health Organization – January 2012

Available online at: http://bit.ly/yVse6O

“…..International collaborative health research is justifiably expected to help reduce global health inequities. Investment in health policy and systems research in developing countries is essential to this process but, currently, funding for international research is mainly channelled towards the development of new medical interventions.

This imbalance is largely due to research legislation and policies used in high-income countries. These policies have increasingly led these countries to invest in health research aimed at boosting national economic competitiveness rather than reducing health inequities.

In the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the regulation of research has encouraged a model that: leads to products that can be commercialized; targets health needs that can be met by profitable, high-technology products; has the licensing of new products as its endpoint; and does not entail significant research capacity strengthening in other countries.

Accordingly, investment in international research is directed towards pharmaceutical trials and product development public–private partnerships for neglected diseases.

This diverts funding away from research that is needed to implement existing interventions and to strengthen health systems, i.e. health policy and systems research. Governments must restructure their research laws and policies to increase this essential research in developing countries…..”

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[EQ] Vacancy notice: D1 WHO position, Director Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion Department

Director Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion Department, NMH/CHP - D1 WHO position
Vacancy notice HQ/11/NMH/FT421

World Health Organization

Application Deadline: 31 January 2012

Duty Station: Geneva, Switzerland

Website: http://bit.ly/z7YDmJ

“…..To provide leadership and direction for global, regional and national efforts to promote health and to prevent and control major chronic diseases.

Primary Objectives include:
Advocating for health promotion and chronic disease prevention and control; promoting health, especially for poor and disadvantaged populations; slowing and reversing the adverse trends in the common chronic disease risk factors; preventing premature deaths and avoiding unnecessary disability due to major chronic diseases cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases; and preventing blindness and deafness…”

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