Health Equity: 10/12/12

Friday, October 12, 2012

[EQ] Measuring progress on NCDs: one goal and five targets

Measuring progress on NCDs: one goal and five targets

Robert Beaglehole a, Ruth Bonita a, Richard Horton b, Majid Ezzati c, Neeraj Bhala d, Mary Amuyunzu-Nyamongo e,
Modi Mwatsama f, K Srinath Reddy g

a University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

b The Lancet, London, UK

c MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, London, UK

d Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, Birmingham, UK

e Consortium for NCD Prevention and Control in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nairobi, Kenya

f National Heart Forum, London, UK

g Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India

The Lancet, Volume 380, Issue 9850, 13 October 2012

Website: http://bit.ly/Qi3icN

“…..Heads of states and governments made commitments to the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Political Declaration from the UN High-level Meeting on NCDs in September, 2011.1 A key commitment in the Political Declaration calls upon WHO to develop a comprehensive global monitoring framework to assess progress in the implementation of national strategies and plans for the four main NCDs: cardiovascular diseases (CVD), diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases.

Central to the monitoring framework is the selection of goals and targets for NCDs. WHO member states have agreed on an NCD target of a 25% reduction by 2025 in the probability of dying from the four main NCDs for people aged 30—70 years.2 We refer to this target as the overarching NCD goal (“25 by 25”). The latest WHO proposals include ten targets to reach this goal.3 Although these targets address important areas of NCD prevention, the choice and hierarchy of the ten targets is based on their level of support by member states.

There is strong support from member states for targets on raised blood pressure, tobacco smoking, salt intake, and physical inactivity. Targets deemed as “requiring further development” relate to obesity, fat intake, alcohol consumption, raised total cholesterol, the availability of essential generic NCD medicines and basic technologies to treat major NCDs, and drug therapy to prevent heart attacks and strokes.3 Member states will discuss these proposed targets at a consultation in November, 2012, and the monitoring framework will be finalised at the World Health Assembly in May, 2013…..”

KMC/2012/HSS
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[EQ] Universal health coverage: does anything go? No

Universal health coverage: does anything go? No

Joseph Kutzin - World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

Published online: 10 October 2012
Bulletin of the World Health Organization - Article ID: BLT.12.113654

Available online at: http://bit.ly/RmhYq7

“…….In its World health report 2010,1 the World Health Organization noted that there is no single, best path for reforming health financing arrangements to move systems closer to universal health coverage, i.e. to improve access to needed, effective services while protecting users from financial ruin. However, this lack of a blueprint for health financing reforms was not meant to convey the message that “anything goes” on the path to universal health coverage. Indeed, concerns have been raised that some reforms, often implemented in the name of expanding coverage, may actually compromise equity.2 Theory and country experience yield important lessons on both promising directions and pitfalls to avoid.

Interpretation of health financing reform experience requires getting beneath commonly used labels such as “tax-funded systems” or “social health insurance”, or simply even “health insurance”, which was used as the basis for a systematic review published in the September issue of the Bulletin.

Such labels hide more than they illuminate, as shown by emerging evidence on reforms that increase access and financial protection but are funded predominantly from general tax revenues (e.g. Mexico, Kyrgyzstan, Rwanda, Thailand).

Deriving meaningful lessons from innovative reform experiences requires a deeper understanding of how countries have altered their funding sources, pooling arrangements, purchasing methods, and policies on benefits and patient cost-sharing. All systems, regardless of what they are called, have to address these functions and policy choices….”

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

Thank you.