Using  law, policy, and research to improve the public´s health

Journal of law, medicine & ethics – Spring 2011

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

..Pandemics fray social norms and test legal rules among countries. The global response to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic involved the marshalling and sharing of resources and information, the testing and application of new legal infrastructures, and the identification of deficiencies in these tools.

It applied new technologies in areas such as vaccine production, information sharing, and epidemiological tracking. It spurred the future development of even newer and more advanced technologies, which may have future legal implications.

Finally, it reiterated what has become an important consideration in pandemic planning and response: that a truly effective response requires complex governance efforts supported by law. These efforts must occur on all levels, from global to local, and by all actors, whether governmental, inter­national, non-governmental, or private….

Lance Gable, Assistant Professor of Law at Wayne State University Law School.
Brooke Courtney, Associate at the Center for Biosecurity of UPMC.
Robert Gatter, Professor of Law at Saint Louis University School of Law.
Eleanor D. Kinney, Hall Render Professor of Law at Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis.

This year´s report on HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector presents strong evidence of progress in the global effort to fight HIV/AIDS, but it also makes clear how much work remains to be done.

Anniversaries offer the opportunity to revisit events that have been enriched by the passage of time. They help to balance disagreements, create new consensuses and re-launch promising discussions. The decennial of the World Health Report 2000 (WHR 2000) may be such an auspicious occasion (WHO 2000).

Estimates of global health indicators – which give insight into death and disease rates, document advances in development, and help policymakers monitor progress – are absolutely essential for improving global health.

Estimates, however, are always imperfect and are sometimes fiercely debated. Recently, new players from academia have entered the game of global health estimation, once the chief domain of United Nations agencies such as WHO.

Targeted at policy and decision makers as well as researchers in health, information technology and telecommunications

World Health Organization – Global Observatory for eHealth, December 2010

Intended as a reference to the state of eHealth development in Member States, this unique publication presents data on the 114 WHO Member States that participated in the 2009 global survey on eHealth. Individual country profiles feature 50 key indicators in eHealth foundation actions as well as specific eHealth applications.

The objectives of the country profiles are to:

• describe the current status of the use of ICT for health in Member States; and
• provide information concerning the progress of eHealth applications in these countries.

Ashly D. Black1, Josip Car1, Claudia Pagliari2, Chantelle Anandan2, Kathrin Cresswell2, Tomislav Bokun1, Brian McKinstry2, Rob Procter3, Azeem Majeed4, Aziz Sheikh2*

1 eHealth Unit, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom,
2 eHealth Research Group, Centre for Population Health Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom,
3 National Centre for e-Social Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom,
4 Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

PLoS Med 8(1): e1000387. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000387 – January 18,2011

Available ONLINE

The Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) initiative complements existing research agendas, which are primarily aimed at reducing the global burden of morbidity and mortality due to malaria by malaria control, with a set of research and development priorities that identify knowledge gaps and tools needed for worldwide eradication of malaria. 

 Over the course of two years, more than 250 experts from 36 countries participated in 20 malERA meetings around the world, producing a draft research and development agenda that was refined during the malERA “Zenith Week” meeting in Washington D.C., in March, 2010.

This sponsored Collection of 12 Reviews comprises three reflective pieces and nine research and development agendas that arose from these consultations.

Download: Complete Collection (3.8 MB PDF).PDF [101p.]

Improving Global Health: Forecasting the Next 50 Years – Volume 3,  2011

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver.  Josef Korbel School of International Studies is the home of the International Futures (IFs) computer simulation modeling project.

……Improving Global Health is the third in a series of volumes Patterns of Potential Human Progress that uses the International Futures (IFs) simulation model to explore prospects for human development. The PPHP series is jointly published by the Pardee Center, Paradigm Publishers, and Oxford University Press India.   The current volume sets out to tell a story of possible futures for the health of peoples across the world.

Questions explored by Improving Global Health include:

• What health outcomes might we expect given current patterns of human development?
• What opportunities exist for intervention and the achievement of alternate health futures?
• How might improved health futures affect broader economic, social, and political prospects of countries, regions, and the world?

What were the trends in public health indicators over the last four years? What factors influence health, and what are the challenges for the future? What contribution can health systems make to improve population health in the WHO European Region? In addressing these questions, this report illustrates the wide-ranging reforms countries have undertaken to strengthen performance in four core functions of health systems: service delivery, resource generation, financing and stewardship.

This report presents essential public health information to support countries in choosing sound investments in health. It should encourage the successful implementation of effective health system reforms and policies, and help countries improve their health systems’ performance to provide efficient, patient-centred, high-quality health care. The annex provides some of the data used in the analysis.

For more information about the book, how to order and a link to the electronic version check:
http://www.euro.who.int/InformationSources/Publications/Catalogue/20091218_1