Friday, September 21, 2007

[EQ] Can we achieve Millennium Development Goal 4?

Can we achieve Millennium Development Goal 4?
New analysis of country trends and forecasts of under-5 mortality to 2015


Prof Christopher JL Murray MD  a ,   Thomas Laakso  a,   Kenji Shibuya b,   Prof Kenneth Hill c   and   Prof Alan D Lopez d

 

Available online at: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607614780/fulltext

[Free subscription required]

 

“…..Global efforts have increased the accuracy and timeliness of estimates of under-5 mortality; however, these estimates fail to use all data available, do not use transparent and reproducible methods, do not distinguish predictions from measurements, and provide no indication of uncertainty around point estimates. We aimed to develop new reproducible methods and reanalyse existing data to elucidate detailed time trends…..”

 

Affiliations

a. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
b. Department of Measurement and Health Information Systems, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
c. Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
d. School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

 

 

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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
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“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
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[EQ] Onions and bubbles: Models of the Social Determinants of Health

Onions and Bubbles: Models of the Social Determinants of Health

FROM THE EDITOR IN CHIEF: Lynne S. Wilcox
Prev Chronic Dis Volume 4: No. 4, October 2007
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Available online at: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/oct/07_0126.htm

“……..The discussion of society and health is complex and sometimes confusing. What is social medicine? What is community medicine? What is the socioecologic model? All these terms have been used to describe the relationship between health and other social conditions. Even public health professionals may find the differences blurred.

The previous issue of Preventing Chronic Disease discussed community health and community-based participatory research (1). Multiple factors affect a community’s function and, in turn, the health of its citizens, and our October issue examines the broader context in which communities operate…”

Social Determinants of Health: What, How, Why, and Now


Marilyn Metzler, Koger Center, CDC, Atlanta, GA

Prev Chronic Dis Volume 4: No. 4, October 2007

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

 

Available online at: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/oct/07_0136.htm

 

“…..Efforts to improve the conditions for health will present many challenges, not least among them the possibility for unintended effects. In her editorial in this issue, Wilcox uses a playful image of interacting bubbles, connected to each other by dynamic processes, to explore the topic of models that seek to describe the multiple factors affecting health (14).

 

Just as a change in one bubble creates changes in the others, even small changes in complex systems can affect the entire system. Improving disadvantaged neighborhoods by adding walking trails and full-service grocery stores can set into motion gentrification processes that displace low-income residents (15). Improving access to education can create despondency in people unable to find jobs where they can use their new skills (16). Systems modeling is one way to explore these interconnected relationships by thinking critically about plausible futures through the use of what-if scenarios (17)…..”  

 

Do We Have Real Poverty in the United States of America?

 

 Paula Braveman, Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Director, Center on Social Disparities in Health, University of California, San Francisco

Prev Chronic Dis Volume 4: No. 4, October 2007

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

 

Available online at:http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/oct/07_0124.htm

 

“…..Consider the images of starving children in Africa, Asia, or Latin America accompanying appeals for humanitarian aid. It is not difficult to understand why people deprived of the most basic material necessities for subsistence — adequate food, clean water, shelter from extreme heat or cold — would suffer high rates of preventable disease, disability, and premature death. Poverty in developing countries is often defined as living on less than $2.00 per person per day (1). By those terms, very few people in the United States would be poor.

 

But poverty criteria for poor countries are not applicable in affluent countries with far higher living costs. The official U.S. poverty guideline in 2005 was an annual income of $19,350 for a family of four (2), which would represent wealth in many poor countries (3). Why, then, are Preventing Chronic Disease and other U.S. journals participating in this multi-journal issue, to be released October 22, 2007, on poverty and human development? Is it simply a magnanimous gesture to support fighting poverty and its adverse health consequences in poor countries, or is poverty an issue we must address at home?....”

 

 

 

 

 *      *      *     * 
This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ IKM Area] 

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PAHO/WHO Website: http://www.paho.org/

EQUITY List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.