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> MACROECONOMICS AND HEALTH: INVESTING IN HEALTH FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
> Report from the chair of the Commission, Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, to Dr
> Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization.
> A drastic scaling up of investments in health for the world's poor will
not
> only save millions of lives but also produce enormous economic gains, say
> experts in a landmark Report presented to the World Health Organization
> (WHO). A group of leading economists and health experts maintain that, by
> 2015-2020, increased health investments of $66 billion per year above
> current spending will generate at least $360 billion annually. About half
of
> this will be as a result of direct economic benefits: the world's poorest
> people will live longer, have many more days of good health and, as a
> result, will be able to earn more. The other half will be as a consequence
> of the indirect economic benefits from this greater individual
productivity.
> Further details:
> http://www.equinetafrica.org/newsletter/newsletter.php?id=472
> Edit:
>
http://www.equinetafrica.org/newsletter/admin/admin.php?action=modify&id=472
>
> POVERTY, INCOME INEQUALITY AND HEALTH
> http://www.treasury.govt.nz/workingpapers/2001/twp01-29.pdf
> The purpose of this report is to consider the legitimacy of the assumption
> that communities or societies with more unequal income distributions have
> poorer health outcomes. The report presents a critical review of the
> existing international literature on the relationship between income,
income
> inequality and health, in terms of conceptual approaches, research methods
> and the policy implications drawn from it. The report also offers some
> guidance for judging between policy priorities based on the relative
> importance of income inequality versus other potential causal factors in
> determining population levels of health. An overview of the potential
> relationship between income, income inequality and health is set out,
> followed by a discussion of the methodological and technical issues
required
> to explore these links.
> Edit:
>
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>
> THE WORLD HEALTH REPORT 2000:
> Can Health Care Systems Be Compared Using A Single Measure Of Performance?
> http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/full/92/1/31
> Vicente Navarro, MD, PhD, DrPH
> Director of the Public Policy Program jointly sponsored by the School of
> Public Health of The Johns Hopkins University
> The major criticisms that can be made of the WHO report are conceptual and
> methodological in nature and can be made for each of the components
> (effectiveness, responsiveness, and fairness) of the single indicator of
> performance used in the report. Regarding effectiveness of health care,
for
> example, the WHO report assumes erroneously that health care is the
primary
> force responsible for the decline of mortality and morbidity in both
> developed and developing countries. That assumption is evident in
statements
> such as "[If] Sweden enjoys better health than Uganda-life expectancy is
> almost exactly twice as long-it is in large part because it spends exactly
> 35 times as much in its health systems." Not surprisingly, the report
> concludes that what is needed to eradicate disease in less-developed
> countries is a greater investment in health care: "with investment in
health
> care of $12 per person, one third of the disease burden in the world in
1990
> would have been averted." Such statements reveal a medicalization of the
> concept of health that is worrisome and surprising, coming as it does from
> the major international health agency of the United Nations.
> Edit:
>
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>
>
> SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR THE POOR: LESSONS FROM RECENT INTERNATIONAL
EXPERIENCE
> http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/wp/wp142.pdf
> Governments and donor agencies increasingly recognise the need to provide
> protection for the poor against income fluctuations or livelihood shocks.
In
> this context, 'social protection' is an umbrella term covering a range of
> interventions, from formal social security systems to ad hoc emergency
> interventions to project food aid (e.g. school feeding, public works).
This
> paper synthesises current thinking and evidence on a number of issues
around
> the design and impact of social protection programmes, including: the case
> for and against targeting resource transfers; alternative approaches to
> targeting; what form resource transfers should take (cash, food,
> agricultural inputs); the 'crowding out' debate; cost-efficiency of
transfer
> programmes; whether these programmes meet the real and articulated needs
of
> their 'beneficiaries'; impacts on poverty and vulnerability, and fiscal
and
> political sustainability.
> Edit:
>
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>
> INCOME INEQUALITY AND POPULATION HEALTH
> http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7328/1
> In 1992, the BMJ published a now famous paper showing a strong negative
> correlation between income inequality and life expectancy. Among nine
> Western industrialised countries those which had less income inequality
> seemed to have higher life expectancy. A few years later this was
replicated
> in analyses looking at income inequality and mortality in states within
the
> United Statesanalyses which seemed more secure because of having more and
> better quality data. These findings, which suggested that income
inequality
> is bad for the health of the whole population and not only for those with
> the lowest incomes, were seen to have important implications. Reducing the
> inequality would be in everyone's interest, including those with higher
> incomes.
> Edit:
>
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>
> THE RISING INEQUALITY OF WORLD INCOME DISTRIBUTION
> http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2001/12/wade.htm
> Does it matter what is happening to world income distribution (among all
6.2
> billion people, regardless of where they live)? Amartya Sen, the recent
> Nobel laureate in economics, warns that arguing about the trend deflects
> attention from the central issue, which is the sheer magnitude of
inequality
> and poverty on a world scale. Regardless of the trend, the magnitude is
> unacceptable. He is right, up to a point. The concentration of world
income
> in the wealthiest quintile (fifth) of the world's population is indeed
> shocking and cannot meet any plausible test of legitimacy. The chart shows
> the distribution of world income by population quintiles. Ironically, it
> resembles a champagne glass, with a wide, shallow bowl at the top and the
> slenderest of stems below.
> Edit:
>
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>
> 7. HUMAN RESOURCES
>
> MOBILIZING TO PROTECT WORKER'S HEALTH:
> The WHO Global Strategy OnOccupational Health And Safety
> http://www.occuphealth.fi/e/info/anl/
> G. Goldstein, R. Helmer, M. Fingerhut
> WHO, African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety, Volume 11,
> December 2001.
> Conditions at work, and especially occupational health and safety have
> improved substantially during the past few decades in many parts of the
> world. But the overall global situation remains poor. Working conditions
for
> the majority of workers do not meet the minimum standards and guidelines
set
> by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Health
> Organization for occupational health, safety and social protection. As an
> example the majority of the world's workforce is still not served by
> competent occupational health services. As a result the global burden of
> occupational disease and injury remains unacceptably high, on a par with
the
> burden from malaria. Yet occupational health programmes receive only a
tiny
> fraction of the resources devoted to combating malaria.
> Edit:
>
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>
> WHO: CIVIL SOCIETY INITIATIVE
> The World Health Organisation's new Civil Society Initiative [CSI] has
> launched a consultative process with civil society organisations about its
> work and would like to include IPHN in its work. A meeting was held in
> London in December 2001 to discuss a document produced by CSI for this
> purpose. The notes of that meeting are attached. There is now an ongoing
> period of consultation based on the document which CSI have produced and a
> number of questions they have drafted. Copies of these are also included.
I
> have been asked to collect and collate responses and to forward them to
CSI.
> Could I ask you to let me have any comments/thoughts you have by 30.1.02.
We
> are happy to have individual/organisational/network comments. Please feel
> free to circulate widely to other contacts you may have.
> Roger Drew
> Executive Director
> Healthlink Worldwide
> Further details:
> http://www.equinetafrica.org/newsletter/newsletter.php?id=476
> Contact: drew.r at healthlink.org.uk
> Edit:
>
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>
> INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR EQUITY IN HEALTH
> http://www.iseqh.org/journal.htm
> ISEqH will launch the International Journal for Equity in Health by Spring
> 2002. This will be a peer-reviewed, electronic journal under the auspices
of
> BiomedCentral (www.biomedcentral.com). Articles published in the journal
> will be cited in PubMed. The purpose of the journal will be to further the
> state of knowledge about equity in health, defined as systematic and
> potentially remediable differences in health across populations and
> population groups defined socially, economically, demographically, or
> geographically.
> Edit:
>
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>
> ISEQH INTERNATIONAL MEETING
> Submission Deadline
> http://www.iseqh.org/
> International Society for Equity in Health (ISEqH) would like to remind
> everyone that the due date for abstract submission for the ISEqH
> international meeting is JANUARY 28, 2002 Instructions and other
information
> about the meeting, including applications for financial assistance, and
> about the Society are on the website. The Conference theme is Equity:
> Research in the Service of Policy and Advocacy for Health and Health
> Services. June 14-16, 2002 - Toronto, Canada.
> Edit:
>
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>