Global public health
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Global public health · Jan 2010
From a declaration of values to the creation of value in global health: a report from Harvard University's Global Health Delivery Project.
To make best use of the new dollars available for the treatment of disease in resource-poor settings, global health practice requires a strategic approach that emphasises value for patients. Practitioners and global health academics should seek to identify and elaborate the set of factors that drives value for patients through the detailed study of actual care delivery organisations in multiple settings. Several frameworks can facilitate this study, including the care delivery value chain. We report on our efforts to catalyse the study of health care delivery in resource-limited settings in the hope that this inquiry will lead to insights that can improve the health of the neediest worldwide.
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Global public health · Jan 2010
Achievement of equity and universal access in China's health service: a commentary on the historical reform perspective from the UK National Health Service.
This paper aims to examine the UK National Health Service (NHS) in the historical context of its background reforms and to investigate future developmental strategies for China's health system. We focus on the central issues facing China's future healthcare development: equity and access. ⋯ Conversely, China has moved from a centrally planned system to a fee-for-service system, but serious problems of inequity and access call for new methods of organisation and financing. With the future of both systems under constant debate, international experience will play a vital role in formulating health system reform strategies.
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Global public health · Jan 2009
Civil society and the negotiation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Tobacco control civil society organisations mobilised to influence countries during the negotiation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) between 1999 and 2003. Tobacco control civil society organisations and coalitions around the world embraced the idea of an international tobacco control treaty and came together as the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), becoming an important non-state actor within the international system of tobacco control. Archival documents and interviews demonstrate that the FCA successfully used strategies, including publication of a newsletter, shaming symbolism and media advocacy to influence policy positions of countries during the FCTC negotiation. The FCA became influential in the negotiation process, by mobilising tobacco control civil society organisations and resources with the help of the Internet, and framing the tobacco control discussion around global public health.
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Global public health · Jan 2009
Historical ArticleLa Grippe and World War I: conflict participation and pandemic confrontation.
This paper assesses whether a nation-state's participation in conflict influences its ability to confront global pandemic or disease. Two alternative hypotheses are proposed. First, increased levels of conflict participation lead to increased abilities of states to confront pandemics. ⋯ Using simple correlation and case illustrations, we test these hypotheses with special focus upon the ability of the participant countries to confront the pandemic. The findings suggest, in a limited and varied fashion, that while neutral countries enjoyed the lowest levels of pandemic deaths, of the participant countries greater levels of conflict participation correlate with lower levels of pandemic deaths. The paper concludes with some propositions regarding the relationship between the current 'war on terror' and prospective pandemics such as avian flu.
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Global public health · Jan 2009
Determinants of accessibility and affordability of health care in post-socialist Tajikistan: evidence and policy options.
There is increasing evidence of rising levels of inequality in health care utilisation in the post-socialist countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Against this backdrop, we investigate the determinants of accessibility and affordability of health care utilisation in Tajikistan. A modified version of the Andersen Behavioural Model is used to conceptualise the determinants of health care utilisation in Tajikistan. ⋯ Empirical results demonstrate that poverty, chronic illness and disability are the most important determinants of health care utilisation and affordability in Tajikistan. Other significant determinants include gender, the level of education of the household head, and the availability of medical personnel at a given population point. These findings suggest an urgent need for health care reform in order to ensure equality in accessibility and affordability for the entire population.