Global health, global vision.
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The Global Health Research Initiative (GHRI) involving the Canadian International Development Agency, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Health Canada and the International Development Research Centre seeks to coordinate Canada's research response to global health challenges. In light of numerous calls to action both nationally and internationally, an orientation to applied health policy and systems research, and to public health research and its application is required to redress global inequalities in wealth and health and to tackle well-documented constraints to achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Over the last four years, the GHRI has funded close to 70 research program development and pilot projects. However, longer-term investment is needed. The proposed dollars 100 million Teasdale-Corti Global Health Research Partnership Program is such a response, and is intended to support teams of researchers and research users to develop, test and implement innovative approaches to strengthening institutional capacity, especially in low- and middle-income countries; to generating knowledge and its effective application to improve the health of populations, especially those most vulnerable; and to strengthen health systems in those countries. While Canada stands poised to act, concerted leadership and resources are still required to support "research that matters" for health and development in low- and middle-income countries.
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Growing poverty, collapsing health care systems, the AIDS pandemic and the widening of health and health care inequities within and between countries all point to the limited success of global public health interventions over the past few decades. Notwithstanding the efforts of multilateral agencies such as the World Health Organization and the many existing contributions from the Canadian community of health professionals, this commentary argues and appeals for further action particularly in relation to the social and political impediments to better health and justice. Specifically, it calls for the development of a robust instrument to assess the impact of Canada as a whole on the state of global health, and to monitor the performance of key Canadian institutions. It is suggested that such an instrument would result in a process that enhances global citizenship and public accountability, and buttresses the efforts of civil society to forge trans-national links in pursuit of a fairer and healthier world. Public health professionals, by virtue of their social standing as well as the nature and tools of their discipline, should be at the forefront of such civic efforts.
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Globalization is impacting on Hong Kong and Australia in different ways, but the experience of the public healthcare systems in both jurisdictions suggests a need for teaching and research hospitals to refocus from the management of international patients to better meet the needs for global health. Traditional globalization suggests a stockpiling of capital--a focus on improving global health suggests dismantling the stockpiles and sharing access to the necessary data, information, knowledge and discoveries to further develop local health expertise. Consistent with its position as a leading healthcare provider, the University Health Network (UHN) has been reflecting on the impact of increasing globalization on hospitals. The goals of the UHN paper on globalization are threefold--to suggest how the external and internal environments of hospitals will change as a result of globalization; to suggest a role for hospitals in a globalized world; and to stimulate discussion and debate. Given our perspective, from the other side of the world, we are pleased to contribute to the discussion and debate but will limit our comments to the future role of teaching and research hospitals based on some of the experiences of Australia and Hong Kong. The citizens of Hong Kong have been acutely aware of the issue of globalization--the excellent deep-water harbour has ensured the position of Hong Kong as a major trading hub. Hong Kong has also had a continually evolving role as a financial centre and gateway to China, and with China's accession to the World Trade Organization the impact of globalization will be even greater. On the other hand, the citizens of Australia have lived with geographic isolation, relatively limited natural resources and a small population, all of which have limited their role in global trade and financial markets. However, both Hong Kong and Australia have seen recent benefits from the increasing speed of communication and information transfer and exchange. While it may still take close to a month for Australian practitioners to receive the hard copy of the journal in the mail, a electronic transfer is instantaneous. The globalization of knowledge and practice is one of the largest impacts of the Internet. With one of the most connected populations in the world, Hong Kong is very active in the sharing of knowledge with international experts.
BACKGROUND: The Global Health Network (GHNet) Supercourse is a collaboration project involving more than 750 professionals from 81 different countries aimed at developing a "library of lectures" related to epidemiology, the Internet, and global health. The goal of the Supercourse is to provide instructors of medical and other health related students with the best available information. RESULTS: The Supercourse is based on several concepts, including information-sharing, quality control, and global access. Currently, 80 lectures are available from scientists around the world. Each lecture serves as a "locator" with hypertext links to other pertinent information on the Internet. The British Medical Journal has put two textbooks on their Web site that interlace each lecture with links to specific pages or paragraphs of the books. All lectures are reviewed for quality by the global faculty and evaluated annually. Hence, lectures remain current, relevant, and of high quality. Mirrored sites of the Supercourse have been established to increase the accessibility of the Supercourse in areas of the world that may have limited connectivity. SUMMARY: While instructors are available worldwide, many do not have access to the latest health and prevention information, and many instructors would benefit from having the assistance of leading experts. Using an Internet-based lecture-shaping model for transnational training in public health, some of these teachers may be better equipped to train medical and health-related professionals.
We are challenged to develop a public health approach that responds to the globalized world. The present global health crisis is not primarily one of disease, but of governance: its key characteristic is a weakening of public policy and interstate mechanisms as a consequence of global restructuring. The response needs to focus on the political determinants of health, in particular on mechanisms that help ensure the global public goods that are required for a more equitable and secure development. A first step in this direction would be to take up the proposal from the recent 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion to explore the possibility of a new type of global health treaty which would help to establish the new parameters of global health governance. National public health associations should take the lead to establish health as a global public good and organize "National Global Health Summits" to discuss the possible mechanisms for the necessary political process. This means putting global health governance issues onto the agenda of other sectors such as foreign policy, as health is critical not only for poverty reduction but for human security as a whole.
Widespread interest in global health issues is a common characteristic of students and faculty in schools of public health and schools of medicine. Building on strong university-based and community-based programs in global health, the University of Washington has created a unique Department of Global Health that is housed jointly in its School of Public Health and Community Medicine and its School of Medicine. The creation of this department has generated significant enthusiasm throughout the university and the Seattle community as a new paradigm for addressing global health education, research, and service. Placing the new Department of Global Health in two university schools and finding the appropriate niche for the department among the university's many global health initiatives presented challenges, as well as opportunities. This article describes the goals of the department, the process by which it was created, and what it expects to accomplish.
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Health promotion according to the 1986 Ottawa Charter of the first global health promotion conference "is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, an individual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment". In this commentary, I explore three powerful challenges to the spirit of the Ottawa Charter and to global health. The first challenge is the departure from the WHO definition of health; the second challenge relates to the appearance of the transhumanist/enhancement model of health which includes human performance enhancement beyond species-typical boundaries as part of the concept of health. The third challenge consists of the limited involvement and understanding of disabled people with their different models of 'disability/impairment' (medical, social, transhumanist/enhancement) in the discourse of global health and health promotion. Not dealing with these challenges impairs the ability of health promotion to deal with global health problems, the 'health' needs of marginalized groups--in particular, disabled people--and the Millennium Development Goals.
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Primary health care was declared the model for global health policy at a 1978 meeting of health ministers and experts from around the world. Primary health care requires a change in socioeconomic status, distribution of resources, a focus on health system development, and emphasis on basic health services. Considered too idealistic and expensive, it was replaced with a disease-focused, selective model. After several years of investment in vertical interventions, preventable diseases remain a major challenge for developing countries. The selective model has not responded adequately to the interrelationship between health and socioeconomic development, and a rethinking of global health policy is urgently needed.