Health Equity: 02/10/12

Friday, February 10, 2012

[EQ] Water for Life

Water for Life

Presented to UK Parliament by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by Command of Her Majesty

December 2011

Available online PDF file [105p.] at: http://bit.ly/zHA388

“….This White Paper describes a vision for future water management in which the water sector is resilient, in which water companies are more efficient and costumer focused, and in which water is valued as the precious resource it is. And it explains that we all have a part to play in the realization of this vision…”..

Content

Executive Summary

1. Introduction

2. Secure, sustainable and resilient water resources

3. Protecting our rivers

4. Planning and building for the future

5. Developing a customer focused water industry

6. Taking action

7. Conclusion

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.

[EQ] Insights from past millennia into climatic impacts on human health and survival

Insights from past millennia into climatic impacts on human health and survival

Anthony J. McMichael

National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra Australia
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences PNAS 2012 ; February 7, 2012,

Available online at; http://bit.ly/wyHFYG

“…..Climate change poses threats to human health, safety, and survival via weather extremes and climatic impacts on food yields, fresh water, infectious diseases, conflict, and displacement. Paradoxically, these risks to health are neither widely nor fully recognized.

Historical experiences of diverse societies experiencing climatic changes, spanning multicentury to single-year duration, provide insights into population health vulnerability—even though most climatic changes were considerably less than those anticipated this century and beyond. Historical experience indicates the following.

· Long-term climate changes have often destabilized civilizations, typically via food shortages, consequent hunger, disease, and unrest.

· (ii) Medium-term climatic adversity has frequently caused similar health, social, and sometimes political consequences.

· (iii) Infectious disease epidemics have often occurred in association with briefer episodes of temperature shifts, food shortages, impoverishment, and social disruption.

· (iv) Societies have often learnt to cope (despite hardship for some groups) with recurring shorter term (decadal to multiyear) regional climatic cycles (e.g., El Niño Southern Oscillation)—except when extreme phases occur.

· (v) The drought–famine–starvation nexus has been the main, recurring, serious threat to health. Warming this century is not only likely to greatly exceed the Holocene’s natural multidecadal temperature fluctuations but to occur faster.

Along with greater climatic variability, models project an increased geographic range and severity of droughts. Modern societies, although larger, better resourced, and more interconnected than past societies, are less flexible, more infrastructure-dependent, densely populated, and hence are vulnerable. Adverse historical climate-related health experiences underscore the case for abating human-induced climate change…..”

Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho

Thank you.

[EQ] Good health at low cost: from slogan to wicked problem

Good health at low cost: from slogan to wicked problem

Lincoln C Chen

The Lancet, Volume 379, Issue 9815, Pages 509 - 510, 11 February 2012 at: http://bit.ly/wceLXg

Good Health at Low Cost 25 Years On: What Makes a Successful health System?

Dina Balabanova, Martin McKee, Anne Mills

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 2011

Pp 369. Download a free copy from http://bit.ly/oJiaPA ISBN-9780902657847

“…..In 1985, the Rockefeller Foundation organised a Bellagio conference that produced the book, Good Health at Low Cost—a slogan that captured the imagination of the global health community. On the basis of four cases—China, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, and the Indian state of Kerala—the book examined how countries with fairly low income could achieve health indicators similar to, or even better than, comparable high-income countries.

The book concluded that good health can be accelerated by political commitment to health equity, broad-based education, especially of women, and well-performing basic health systems.

25 years later, the Rockefeller Foundation commissioned an international study team, led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, to revisit the slogan.

This time the book's focus is on “what makes a successful health system?” Five fresh cases are examined—Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Good Health at Low Cost 25 Years On assigns chapters to each country to highlight core messages, present health conditions, analyse health systems, and explore wider issues. An update of the original countries also features, alongside an analysis of health systems in the context of political and socioeconomic factors.

The original slogan ignited popular imagination because its timing matched global efforts to translate the Declaration of Alma-Ata for Health for All in all countries at all economic levels. What seemed most inspiring was the message that even the poorest countries could achieve good health…..”

Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho

Thank you.

[EQ] Seminar Series towards Rio+20 - Water and Sanitation in the Latin America and the Caribbean

SDE Seminar Series towards Rio+20
Sustainable Development and Environmental Health – SDE - PAHO/WHO

The Second Seminar is planned as follows:
February 22, 2012 – PAHO/WHO Rio+20 at: http://bit.ly/oxoRdS

Water and Sanitation in the Latin America and the Caribbean:
Evidence for decision-making

12:00 – Welcome: Dr. Carlos Santos Burgoa, Regional Advisor Sustainable Development and Environmental Health PAHO/WHO

12:05 – Water and Sanitation in the Latin America and the Caribbean – Eng. Ana Treasure PAHO/WHO

12:10 – Policy brief: Water and Sanitation – Dra Evelina Chapman PAHO/WHO
12:20 - Inequities in Water and Sanitation (Beyond the averages) Eng. Julio Monreal PAHO/WHO

12:30 - Policies of Distribution of Water and Sanitation and Rights.
12:40 - Eng. Paulo Fernando Teixeira, Regional Advisor Sustainable Development and Environmental Health PAHO/WHO
12:50 – Q & A

Comments: Dr. Carlos Santos Burgoa, Regional Advisor Sustainable Development and Environmental Health PAHO/WHO

Moderator: Dr. Agnes Soares, Regional Advisor Sustainable Development and Environmental Health PAHO/WHO

In person:
PAHO/WHO
525 23^rd ST NW
Washington DC, 20037 Room 512 – 12h to 13h Eastern Time (WDC)

Online:

Elluminate link: www.paho.org/virtual/SeminariosSDE

Phone number for those without access to Elluminate:

Telephone +12029743075

Meeting ID 4545

SDE Seminar Series towards Rio+20

"Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development.
They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature" - Principle 1 of the Rio…..”Declaration on Environment and Development, 1992.

The Rio Declaration of 1992 recognizes that healthy populations are central to human progress and sustainable development, and remains equally true today. However, the economic pillar has been prioritized at the expense of the social and environmental pillars of sustainable development over the last few decades, becoming itself a source of volatility and destabilization.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - UNCSD Rio+20 now offers an opportunity to re-examine the relationship between health and sustainable development. The proposed SDE Seminar series towards Rio+20 aim at contributing to this important debate by bringing different themes of relevance to sustainable development and health to inform all areas of the Pan American Organization about the themes under discussion in the Rio Conference, but also to inform public health stakeholders and other decision makers in the health sector, to better take part in the debate.

In the “Zero draft document of the Conference” [ http://bit.ly/zDNKbR ] under discussion, health is very poorly mentioned. With these debates we hope to provide an overview of some of the various and different aspects of health in the context of sustainable development.

The SDE Seminar series will happen every Wednesday from 12 to 1pm (Washington time), from February 8 to June 13th.

All Seminars will be life-streamed, and opened for participation in person at the PAHO/WHO HQ, or via Elluminate, or via telephone line.
Some of the Seminars will be in English, others in Spanish.

For those who cannot follow the seminar alive, they will be available later at
PAHO Rio+20 Toolkit at: http://bit.ly/oxoRdS

The Third Seminar is planned as follows:
February 22, 2012 – PAHO/WHO Rio+20 at: http://bit.ly/oxoRdS

Climate change and health in the context of Rio+20

12:00 – Welcome: Dr. Agnes Soares, Regional Advisor Sustainable Development and Environmental Health PAHO/WHO

12:05 – Climate Change and Health – Dr. Carlos Corvalan (SP) PAHO/WHO Brazil

12:10 - An experience of adaptation to the climate change in Bolivia – Dra. Marily Aparício (SP)

12:20 - The experience of Barbados in preparation to extreme events – Austin Grieves (EN)

12:30 - Quebec climate change adaptation plan: an integrated platform for the surveillance of health-related indicators for extreme meteorological events
– Dr Pierre Gosselin (EN)
An integrated platform for the surveillance of health-related indicators for extreme meteorological events (EME) has been implemented in 2010 by public health and civil protection authorities in Quebec, in close contact with the Canadian Meteorological Service. It was developed with Open Source software, based on end-users' needs, and it constantly evolves over time, adding new indicators and spatial layers. The users already see many benefits of using a common source of authoritative data facilitating interaction for both emergency interventions and preventive measures

12:40 – Q & A

Comments: Dr. Carlos Santos Burgoa, Regional Advisor Sustainable Development and Environmental Health PAHO/WHO

Moderator: Dr. Agnes Soares, Regional Advisor Sustainable Development and Environmental Health PAHO/WHO

Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho

Thank you.