PHA-Exch> Fwd: Revitalising Primary Health Care; Exciting Opportunity; Be Part of It; Read on!

[Claudio Schuftan]

*From:* Corinne Packer [mailto:cpacker at uottawa.ca]
*Subject:* Progress on our Call for Expressions of Interest    FULL TEXT
BELOW

I am getting about 3 queries a day relating to the Call for EOIs on the
Revitalizing Health for All project, which is a good sign. The great
majority are coming from Australia/NewZealand and Latin America, and a few
others from Africa. Some are clearly underdeveloped and do not understand
the type of opportunity involved. Others are seem on the ball and should
come up with good proposals.

I've also received quite a few requests from countries (mainly Middle
Eastern countries) which fall outside the regions we indicated on our EOI
asking if they can apply as well. David, Ron, Nikki and I discussed this
yesterday and agreed that we should not bar them from applying since the
only reason for their exclusion was based on our budget but we hope to
rectify this through our recent application for an additional CAD 40,000 to
the Alliance to boost funds for the regional trainings.

 We also agreed yesterday that it would be wise for all of you to *send and
post the Call for EOIs among your networks again *to encourage as many
applications as possible. I had a look today at the PHM website
www.phmovement.org and cannot see the Call posted anywhere until you go
further down to the IPHU portion of the site( www.phmovement.org/iphu/).
 But, here, the Call is not visibly/quickly found. I will re-contact the
person at PHM headquarters in India to ask whether it can be more
prominently displayed on the site. The separate PHM India and Australia
sites do not have the Call posted either (I leave it to those of you there
to decide whether it should be posted on these sites but just wanted to let
you know).

Inquiries: to Corinne at address above

 *Revitalizing Health for All: A Call for Expressions of Interest to
Participate in New Research and Research Training in Comprehensive Primary
Health Care *

* **Background *

In 2007, an international network of researchers and people involved in
building comprehensive primary health care (CPHC) received funding to
support research and research capacity-building. This network, associated
with the People's Health Movement, includes individuals in India, Africa,
Latin America, Europe, Canada and Australia.



The ideals of comprehensive primary health care were first launched
internationally by the 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care.
This Declaration was partly based on earlier primary health care successes
in significantly lowering infant, childhood and maternal mortality rates and
creating over all population health improvements in many parts of the
developing world.



Since the Alma-Ata Declaration, however, most health systems reform in much
of the world has been driven by 'selective' (single-disease or intervention
focused) primary health care, and by increased marketization of health care
services (e.g. user fees, privatization). This has led to increasingly
complex, inefficient and inequitable health systems driven by an ever larger
number of special 'global health initiatives.' Resulting problems of
sustainability in selective primary health care programs, and the weakening
of public health systems and their capacities to work intersectorally on the
determinants of health and with communities in more authentic forms of
partnership, has led to calls for the renewal of comprehensive primary
health care by the World Health Organization, the Pan-American Health
Organization, and health ministries and civil society groups around the
world.

* *

*Our Project *

With funding support from the Canadian Global Health Research Initiative and
its 'Teasdale-Corti' Research Program, our project goals are to:

1.       systematically review recent past experiences of comprehensive
primary health care from different regions of the world to determine what we
know about how it works, what it needs to work and what it has accomplished;



2.       train up to 20 early career primary health care researchers in
undertaking new or augmenting existing CPHC research studies, in teams with
'research users' (health policy or program planners) and research mentors
(experienced CPHC researchers)



3.       provide financial support to these research teams to undertake
their proposed studies



4.       support the building of regional networks of researchers and
research users (including civil society groups) to advance comprehensive
primary health care as the basis for health system reform in their own
countries



5.       create a rigorously sound knowledge base on the role of
comprehensive primary health care in improving health equity that can be
used in the advocacy work of these regional networks



6.       strengthen the People's Health Movement in being a global voice for
comprehensive primary health care

* *

*Call for Expressions of Interest *

Our project is now seeking applications ('Expressions of Interest') from
research teams committed to developing important new knowledge and action on
comprehensive primary health care. These research teams will come from one
of four different areas/regions in which are focusing our overall project
work:

Region 1: India and South Asia

Region 2: Africa

Region 3: Latin America

Region 4: Indigenous/Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Australia

* *

*Who? *

Each team will be made up of:

• an early career researcher (someone who is just beginning to study primary
health care)

• a 'research user' (someone who is working in health systems developing or
implementing primary health care policies or programs, and who is in a
sufficiently senior position to make or influence decisions based on new
research knowledge)

• a mentor (a more senior researcher with experience in research on CPHC,
health systems, health and development or other related social development
area)



Research teams could come from universities, governments, non-governmental
organizations or any other group that is involved in primary health care. At
least one of the team members must work in an organization legally eligible
to receive research grant funding.

Anyone needing assistance in creating a team (e.g. locating one or more
potential team members) should contact the Research Coordinator, Dr. Corinne
Packer (*cpacker at uottawa.ca*).

* *

*What will participation in the project entail? *

Each team will prepare a first draft of an Expression of Interest
(essentially an outline of a research proposal) that will address an
important question, or set of questions, about comprehensive primary health
care. The proposals will be reviewed by members of our project coordinating
group.



Up to 6 of these proposals from each of our four regions will be funded to
attend a 2 week IPHU program in 2008 on researching comprehensive primary
health care. Research users will be encouraged to attend for the full 2
weeks, but where this is not possible it is essential that they attend the
first week. During this 2 week training program, research teams will have an
opportunity to develop their proposals in greater detail.



Teams supported directly through this initiative will also be provided with
some financial support to conduct their research. Teams not selected for
this support may be invited to participate in the training program and
subsequent regional meetings on a cost-recovery basis.



Due to limited funding available through this initiative, all invited teams
(whether funded by the initiative or participating on a cost-recovery basis)
will be asked to indicate in their Expression of Interest what other sources
of funding they already have, or may be able to access.



All teams who attended the first year training program will also be expected
to attend a 3 day follow-up training programs in 2009, which will be
accompanied by a 1 day regional meeting on CPHC. They will also be expected
to attend a second regional meeting in 2010.

There will be four separate sets of training programs, one for each of the
four regions.



*Writing Your Expression of Interest *

The Expression of Interest should be no more than 5 pages long. It should be
developed collaboratively between both team members (the researcher, and the
research user).
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