Health Equity: 01/26/12

Thursday, January 26, 2012

[EQ] Seminar on: Trade and Public Health

PAHO/WHO

Areas of Sustainable Development and Environmental Health (SDE) and Health Surveillance Disease Prevention and Control (HSD)

Invites you to the Seminar on: Trade and Public Health

Keynote Speaker: Benn McGrady

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Time: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm - Eastern Standard Time (Washington DC USA)

To check local time in WDC against your time zone, see the World Clock at:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

The Problem:

· Trade treaties can affect public health in negative and positive ways depending on how it affects the availability of different products or how they affect labor markets among other factors. A clear case is the increase of chronic non communicable diseases (NCD) due to the higher availability of potentially harmful products, like tobacco, unhealthy food and alcohol. NCD are today the first cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and tobacco is the main risk factor related to them.

· The most effective interventions in tobacco control, included in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) contain regulations that will have an effect in trade and businesses and the WHO FCTC is also a legally binding international treaty. Many of the interventions applied to tobacco control will be useful in other areas, like alcohol and junk food regulation, therefore this is a challenge that will grow in the near future.

Challenges: There is a need for an integrated approach from countries recognizing the prevalence of public health over commercial or trade interests.

NCD a public health problem is a priority for WHO/PAHO and also for the entire UN system, that focused its last high level meeting on this subject.

Expected outcomes:

· Increased awareness of the importance of the relationship between trade and public health.

· Country level discussion regarding the prevalence of public health over commercial interests.

To participate in person:

Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO

525 23rd St NW Washington DC 20037 - PAHO HQ Room 1017

To participate online:

To login to the Elluminate session, use the links below and type your name on the sign in page:

ENGLISH: www.paho.org/virtual/SDETobaccoControl

SPANISH: www.paho.org/virtual/SDEControlTabaco

To login type your name on the sign in page

AGENDA

2:00 - 2:15 Introductory remarks:

Dr. Augusto Galvão,Manager, SDE/PAHO

Dr. Marcos Espinal, Manager, HSD/PAHO

2: 15– 2:30 Why International Instruments in Public Health, – WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Dr. Armando Peruga, WHO/TFI Program Manager

2:30 – 3:20 How Trade Policy affects Public Health:
The Example of Tobacco, Alcohol and Diet and the Burden of Noncommunicable Diseases

Legal debates at WTO: Objections to Australia’s Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products from Countries of the Region

Dr. Benn McGrady, Director of the O’Neill Institute Initiative on Trade, Investment and Health

3:20 – 4:00 Panel:

Dr. Benn McGrady, Director of the O’Neill Institute Initiative on Trade, Investment and Health

Dr. Armando Peruga, WHO/TFI Program Manager

Moderators:

Dr. James Hospedales, Senior Advisor, Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases, HSD/NC

Dr. Adriana Blanco, Regional Advisor, Tobacco Control, SDE/MH

About Benn McGrady

Benn McGrady is the Director of the O’Neill Institute Initiative on Trade, Investment and Health and an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches International Trade and Health and co-teaches Public Health and International Investment Law.

Dr.McGrady is the author of Trade and Public Health: The WTO, Tobacco, Alcohol and Diet (Cambridge University Press, 2011).

Contact Information
Dr Adriana Blanco, Regional Advisor, Tobacco Control, SDE/MH at: blancoad@paho.org

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[EQ] Health For All: Why equity is crucial

Health For All: Why equity is crucial

Research Watch - the web TV/magazine of the UNICEF Office of Research - 2012

The Debate: Why is equity in health care crucial for the well being of children?

Cesar Victora, President of the International Epidemiological Association,
Janet Vega, the Director of the Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health policy in Chile, and
Mickey Chopra, UNICEF's Chief of Health.

Watch it at http://bit.ly/wsUmlg

In Look Out For:
Christopher Garimoi Orach from Makerere University School of Public Health, Kampala, gives an insight into research on the unmet needs of new and expectant mothers in displaced populations in Uganda, and Gavin Mooney from the University of Cape Town discusses research on the impact of health care payments on families, and in particular on the well-being of children.
URL: http://bit.ly/wj2TEH

Commentary:
Sofia Gruskin, Director of the Program on Global Health and Human Rights at the Institute for Global Health provides a Commentary on the interplay of
Equity, Human Rights and Health. http://bit.ly/xaPxgD

“……….All too often what has been counted falls back into a traditional paradigm of economic inequity – measuring poorest and richest quintiles – not for lack of interest but for lack of agreement on an appropriate measure, let alone what priority measures should be. While we all recognize the need to go further, tested and validated measures bringing attention to geographic, ethnic, age and gender disparities are few, let alone those which truly measure inequities and inequalities in health and the related availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of services as mandated under the right to health. But this must be the goal, with important implications for the health and well-being of children. …………”

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[EQ] Social Health Protection: addressing inequities in access to health care

Social Health Protection: addressing inequities in access to health care

Pre-course e-learning: 20 February - 11 March 2012

Residential phase: 12 - 23 March 2012

Turin, Italy with a study visit to Chambéry, France

International Training Centre of the ILO Social Protection Programme

Flyer: http://bit.ly/z2vcbY

WHO website: http://bit.ly/y3FobN

The course will identify inequities in effective access and main causes, review the importance of universal access to health care in crisis and post crisis situations, issues related to the feasibility of introducing a scheme and planning for implementation; designing the appropriate contribution levels and benefits, monitoring the provision of services and ensuring the sound governance and financing of the scheme.

Objectives

This course enables participants to

• know about main determinants of inequities of social health protection systems

• identify and analyse root causes of those

• assess (dis-)advantages of various financing mechanisms for social health protection through comparative analysis

• evaluate impact and costs of social health insurance and government tax-funded systems

• design and implement policy interventions to reform current schemes

• respond to the specific needs of vulnerable groups to progress towards equity in access to health care

• develop an international perspective on global initiatives on access to health care

Content

Analysis of issues related to gaps in access to health care

• Dimensions of effective access

• Gaps in statutory coverage

• Limitations in the scope of benefits

• Gaps in financial protection

Root causes for inequities in access to health care

• Fragmentation of social protection systems, multiplicity of actors

• Incoherence of policies and strategies

• Links to the socio-economic context

• Impacts of global crises on national policy-making

Developing and implementing responses to achieve universal access to health care

• Extension of social health protection coverage and its impact on poverty reduction

• Progressing towards universal and equitable access to health services

• Main financing mechanisms, collection of funds and creation of fiscal space

• Coordination of different health financing mechanisms for sustainable schemes

• Impact of expenditures and use of resources

• Administration, cost control and good governance of social health protection schemes

• Developing coverage plans and national health budgets

• Affordability and availability of adequate benefits

• Provision of health care benef ts

• National and community-based schemes

• ILO Conventions 102 and 130, Recommendation 69

• Social health protection and international initiatives: Social Protection Floor,
Millennium Development Goals health outcomes, Decent Work Agenda

The multiple dimensions of inequity in effective access to health care for different population groups will be highlighted throughout the programme.

Methodology

Phase I: Pre-course e-learning on the internet-based learning platform – 20 February - 11 March 2012.

• During the initial on-line phase all relevant practical and organisational information about the activity is shared with participants on this platform. A pre-course survey is carried out to assess the specific learning needs and preferences which will be integrated in the face-to-face phase. Through modules and an assignment participants are introduced to the thematic focus of the learning activity.

Phase II: Face-to-Face workshop – two week course, 12 – 23 March 2012 in Turin.

• Participants are expected to attend four sessions daily of 1.5hrs each.

• During the course an action-oriented, highly participative approach is used with particular attention to presenting good practises refl ecting experiences already gained locally and internationally. Training methods will combine lectures and discussions, case studies, open space discussions, group work and individual exercises.

• A visit to a health insurance scheme in Chambéry, France will allow participants on-site questions and answers on operational issues.

• All presentations as well as other relevant information and materials are uploaded on the online platform to facilitate that participants can share with their institutions what they have learned.

Phase III: Post-training on the internet-based learning platform

– following the face to face course.

• During the follow up phase participants upload action plans and discuss their follow-up actions. New resources, expertise and knowledge about the topic of the activity are regularly linked to the platform.

Languages

To foster interregional experience-sharing, the course is offered in English and in French, with simultaneous interpretation. All course materials are provided in both languages.

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[EQ] Scenarios for primary care in 2025 and recommendations for working toward a preferred future

Scenarios for primary care in 2025 and recommendations for working toward a preferred future

Project of the Institute for Alternative Futures supported by a grant from the Kresge Foundation

Available online at: http://bit.ly/y7qkXi

“………Forecasts by numerous health care experts strongly suggest that primary care is likely to be very different from what we experience today. While the recent health care reform legislation is driving change from a policy level, developments in technology, disease knowledge, health care financing, care protocols and modalities, and other areas are transforming the field of primary care.

As these changes unfold, it will be essential for policy-makers, public health officials, health care providers, and others to understand the alternative paths that 21st century primary care could take…..”

Scenario Workshop Toolkit: In addition to the full report, IAF has developed a scenario toolkit http://bit.ly/yU6n1o and
slides http://bit.ly/yte9SU to help organizations, health care providers, and communities to conduct scenario planning exercises and consider the implications of these Primary Care 2025 Scenarios for their own strategies and operations.

“……Scenarios are different stories describing how the future may unfold. Scenarios force us to consider the systems surrounding our topic and to clarify our assumptions. Given persistent uncertainty, they bound that uncertainty into a limited number of paths. These paths help us think about different probabilities in a larger space of possibilities.

People who work with scenarios find more creative options than those who develop plans based only on the past and present. Strategies, plans, and actions that are created can also be “future tested” against the different scenarios to assure robust initiatives rather than continued efforts based on outdated assumptions. Scenarios are the best method for systematically addressing the uncertain future.

IAF has developed various types of scenarios using the “Aspirational Futures” technique. This technique develops scenarios in three zones:

■ A “zone of conventional expectation” reflecting the extrapolation of known trends, the expectable future;

■ A “zone of growing desperation” which presents a set of plausible challenges that an organization may face, a challenging future; and

■ A “zone of high aspiration,” in which a critical mass of stakeholders pursues visionary strategies and achieves surprising success. (Two scenarios are developed in this zone in order to offer two alternative pathways to surprisingly successful or visionary futures.)………….”

Content:

Introduction

Why Scenarios? 1

Development of the Primary Care 2025 Scenarios

Evolution of Primary Care in the United States

Four Primary Care 2025 Scenarios

SCENARIO 1: “Many Needs, Many Models”

SCENARIO 2: “Lost Decade, Lost Health”

SCENARIO 3: “Primary Care That Works for All”

SCENARIO 4: “I Am My Own Medical Home”

Comparative Matrix

Primary Care 2025 National Workshop

Recommendations and Robust Strategies

Health Professional Education

Individual and Community Capacity and Accountability

Health Information Technology

Population Health

Political and Cultural Change

Conclusion

Appendix 1: Acknowledgements

Appendix 2: Forces Shaping Primary Care

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