Health Equity: 05/16/12

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

[EQ] UNFPA - Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2010

Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2010

WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and The World Bank estimates

UN Population Fund (UNFPA) May 16, 2012

Available online PDF [72p.] at: http://bit.ly/JjLcki

“……New maternal mortality estimates confirm that the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth is declining. Along with other indicators, this joint U.N. report validates the fact that we are making progress in saving mothers’ lives, even if progress is slower than what is called for by the Millennium Development Goals.

Rapid progress in some countries demonstrates that when governments take a strategic approach to the safe motherhood challenge -- by deploying trained midwives, ensuring adequate essential supplies, making family planning accessible and providing timely obstetric care to women with complications, we are getting results. Still, there is more work to be done in delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted and every childbirth is safe….”

Content:

Executive summary

1 Introduction

2 Measuring maternal mortality

2.1 Concepts and definitions

2.2 Coding of maternal deaths

2.3 Approaches for measuring maternal mortality

3 Methodology for the 1990–2010 estimates of maternal mortality

3.1 Sources of country data used for the 1990–2010 estimates

3.2 Methods used to estimate maternal mortality ratio in 1990–2010 according to data source

3.3 Computation of adult lifetime risk of maternal mortality

3.4 Global and regional estimates

3.5 Differences between the 2010 methodology and 2008

3.6 Similarities and differences to other maternal mortality estimates

4 Analysis and interpretation of the 2010 estimates

4.1 Maternal mortality estimates for 2010

4.2 Trends in MMR from 1990 to 2010

4.3 Issues to consider in using the 2010 maternal mortality estimates

5 Is the fifth Millennium Development Goal achievable

5.1 Potential reasons for declining maternal mortality

References

KMC/2012/FCH
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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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[EQ] Addis Ababa Declaration - A call on Global Health Equity

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) - Addis Ababa Declaration

At the conclusion of the 13th World Congress on Public Health, held 22 – 27 April 2012 in Addis Abeba (Ethiopia),
the WFPHA issued the:

Addis Ababa Declaration, a call on Global Health Equity

…….a call to act on closing some of the critical gaps in global health and well-being…….

Available online at: http://bit.ly/JMP6oS

“…….This includes working across sectors and disciplines and in true partnership with communities to:

1. Promote and attain social justice and equity in health by acting through a ‘Social Determinants of Health’ approach;

2. Accelerate the attainment of national and international development goals by building and redistributing resources to strengthen international, national and local capacity and leadership in public health;

3. Ensure that better context-specific, comprehensive and equitable targets covering universal health coverage and health for all are integrated into and made more visible within the MDGs as soon as possible;

4. Enhance and strengthen, both numerically and in capability, the public health workforce, in addition to developing new and effective strategies to retain qualified health professionals;

5. Combat fraud and corruption, as these are major determinants of health that affect all, but especially the poor and vulnerable;

6. Recognize physical and mental disabilities and injury prevention as critical components of a public health approach to health equity; and,

7. Fulfill their financial pledges in respect of the MDGs and to, in addition, fulfill their pledges with respect to the Paris Declaration and to the political declarations on Non-Communicable Diseases and the Social Determinants of Health……”

An article about the 13th World Congress on Public Health and the Addis Abab Declaration appeared in the April 30 issue of the Huffington Post.
"Please mind the gap..."
by Dr. Peter Byass, Professor of Global Health and Director of the Umea Centre for Global Health Research (Sweden).
Available a: http://huff.to/Je2LrC

KMC/2012/SDE
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] Comparing health policy agendas across eleven high income countries: Islands of difference in a sea of similarity

Comparing health policy agendas across eleven high income countries:
Islands of difference in a sea of similarity

Tim Tenbensel, Samantha Eagle, Toni Ashton

School of Population Health, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Health Policy (2012)

Website: http://bit.ly/IN6NmI

“………Does the way in which health systems are financed influence whether health policymakers are more or less interested in accessible and equitable health services?
Are social democratic governments more interested in primary health care reform than conservative governments?

Have particular domains of health policy really become more important over the past decade across a range of countries?

In this exploratory article, we investigate the similarities and differences in patterns of attention in health policy in eleven high income countries using data from the Health Policy Monitor database from 2003 to 2010.
Our study suggests significant ‘islands of difference’ in an overall ‘sea of similarity’ between the health policy agendas of the selected countries.

The key findings are:
(i) that improving population health outcomes is more likely to be on the agenda under tax-based systems and when centre-left parties are dominant in government;
(ii) health systems funded through social insurance are more preoccupied with efficiency and cost-containment than tax-funded systems;
(iii) the political complexion of governments is not a major factor shaping health policy agendas; and
(iv) since 2003 there has been an increasing interest in initiatives that address public health concerns, access and equity, and population health outcomes…..”

Thank you.

[EQ] World Health Statistics 2012 - WHO

World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (GHO)

World Health Statistics 2012

WHO’s annual compilation of health-related data for its 194 Member States, and includes a summary of the progress made towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and associated targets.

This year, it also includes highlight summaries on the topics of noncommunicable diseases, universal health coverage and civil registration coverage.

Progress on the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Fact sheet N°290 - http://bit.ly/J8jdcF

SUMMARY BROCHURE

English at: http://bit.ly/JdQSSB
French at: http://bit.ly/Ktjvep

Spanish at: http://bit.ly/JJtsBx

FULL REPORT

English PDF [180p.] at: http://bit.ly/JTfwGN

French PDF [180p.] at: http://bit.ly/JvUPmf

Spanish PDF [180p.] at: http://bit.ly/KfFyzw

Table of contents

Part I. Health-related Millennium Development Goals
Summary of status and trends

Regional and country charts

Part II. Highlighted topics

Noncommunicable diseases: a major health challenge of the 21st century

Health expenditures and universal coverage

Civil registration and vital statistics systems

Part III. Global health indicators

1. Life expectancy and mortality
2. Cause-specific mortality and morbidity
3. Selected infectious diseases
4. Health service coverage
5. Risk factors
6. Health workforce, infrastructure and essential medicines
7. Health expenditure
8. Health inequities
9. Demographic and socioeconomic statistics
10. Health information systems and data availability

KMC/2012/HSD
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.