Health Equity: 09/27/12

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.

KMC/2012/SDE
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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

“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”.
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[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.