An interesting article from Canada

Everybody's business: economic surveillance of public health services in Alberta, Canada

1. Philip Jacobs¹, 
2. Jessica Moffatt¹, 
3. Arto Ohinmaa² and 
4. Egon Jonsson³

+Author Affiliations

1. 1 Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Canada
2. 2 School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Canada
3. 3 Institute of Health Economics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

1. Correspondence: Jessica Moffatt, Institute of Health Economics, 1200-10405 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4, Canada, tel: 780 448 4881, fax: 780 448 0018, e-mail:jmoffatt@ihe.ca

Abstract

Background: To address public health risk factors, governments conduct interventions in many different ministries, including non-health ministries. In order to understand the scope and cost of public health in Alberta, we developed a survey of government public health interventions. We included any government ministry or public organization, which includes health as a stated objective. Methods: A grey literature search was initially conducted, followed by 69 consultations with federal, provincial and municipal organizations. We captured information related to (i) the type of public health service provided; (ii) the associated costs (if available); and (iii) any additional ministry that may collaborate on the initiative. This information was then presented to lead ministry personnel for validation and verification. Results: We covered 15 areas of public health and identified 23 federal and 21 provincial agencies and departments that were providing these services. Public health spending on current operations amounted to $327 per capita, of which 60.5% came from provincial non-health ministries. Capital expenditures were $256 per capita, of which 32.5% were from the federal government.Conclusions: Public health expenses by non-health ministries were greater than those for health ministries. Capital expenses were much greater than non-capital expenses. In order to measure the full impact of government public health, it is necessary to take a cross-ministerial approach.

• © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

If you would be interested to read the whole article, please sign in at:

http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org

EuroHealthNet welcomes focus on longer lives but regrets growing inequalities in new European health report

EuroHealthNet, a partner to the SEE Health Network, is one of the vital and important organizations promoting and supporting the work of both WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Union in their goals to deal with inequalities in Europe.

See more at:
http://eurohealthnet.eu/organisation/eurohealthnet-welcomes-focus-longer-live

EU Newsletter, issue 106

Investment in Health a priority in the Social Investment Package

By Paola Testori Coggi, Director General for Health and Consumers, European Commission

The European Commission adopted its Social Investment Package for Growth and Cohesion on 20th February 2013. As highlighted in the Commission paper on Investing in Health included in the package, health is an integral part of the Europe 2020 strategy.

The paper recommends reforming health systems to ensure the twin aims of providing access to high quality healthcare and using public resources more efficiently. It follows on from the 2013 Annual Growth Survey,which recognises the contribution of health for a job-rich recovery and recommends reforming health systems to ensure their cost-effectiveness and [...]

 

Read more:

http://ec.europa.eu/health-eu/newsletter/106/newsletter_en.htm

Just published

The UNDP has just published the Human Development Report 2013 entitled "The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World".

 

Ms. Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, highlights in the Foreward:

 

The 2013 Human Development Report, The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World looks at the evolving geopolitics of our times, examining emerging issues and trends and also the new actors which are shaping the development landscape

.

The Report argues that the striking transformation of a large number of developing countries into dynamic major economies with growing political influence is having a significant impact on human development progress. The Report notes that, over the last decade, all countries accelerated their achievements in the education, health, and income dimensions as measured in the Human Development Index (HDI)—to the extent that no country for which data was available had a lower HDI value in 2012 than in 2000. As faster progress was recorded in lower HDI countries during this period, there was notable convergence in HDI values globally, although progress was uneven within and between regions.

 

The Report also suggests that as global development challenges become more complex

and transboundary in nature, coordinated action on the most pressing challenges of our era, whether they be poverty eradication, climate change, or peace and security, is essential. As countries are increasingly interconnected through trade, migration, and information and communications technologies, it is no surprise that policy decisions in one place have substantial impacts elsewhere. The crises of recent years—food, financial, climate— which have blighted the lives of so many point to this, and to the importance of working to reduce people’s vulnerability to shocks and disasters.

 

Finally, the Report also calls for a critical look at global governance institutions to promote a fairer, more equal world. It points to outdated structures, which do not reflect the new economic and geopolitical reality described, and considers options for a new era of partnership. It also calls for greater transparency and accountability, and highlights the role of global civil society in advocating for this and for greater decision-making power for those most directly affected by global challenges, who are often the poorest and most vulnerable people in our world.

As discussion continues on the global development agenda beyond 2015, I hope many will take the time to read this Report and reflect on its lessons for our fast-changing world. The Report refreshes our understanding of the current state of global development, and demonstrates how much can be learned from the experiences of fast development progress in so many countries in the South."

 

For those who are interested, the full report could be found using the following link:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2013_EN_complete.pdf 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human Resources for Health Observatory in South-eastern Europe

The SEE Health Network Regional Health Development Centre and SEE Observatory on Human Resources for Health, set up in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova since 2011 has its own blogspot where all news on this important subject could be followed.

For more information see the link below:

http://seehrhobs.blogspot.dk/

The new Secretariat of the SEE Health Network is already a reality: Official Inauguration on 07 March in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia

Address of Ms. Snezhanna Chichevalieva, Public Health Officer, WHO Regional Office for Europe and former Chair of the SEE Health Network Executive Committee:

 

"    Dear National Health Coordinators,

      Dear Members of the Executive Committee,
      Dear Representatives of the Partners,
 

Allow me to express my gratitude for your contribution to the overall process of sub-regional cooperation in health in South East Europe and in the SEE Health Network that has brought it to this point of the Inauguration of the Seat of the SEEHN Secretariat in Skopje, republic of Macedonia on the 7th of March, 2013.

 

I commend you for the success of the event. I also sincerely thank the Ambassadors of the  SEEHN Member States who were present at the event , that have given it a high level international profile, thus, making the SEE commitment to further develop SEEHN as a health diplomacy tool a reality.

I, hereby, inform you that Ms. Zsuzsanna Jakab, Director of WHO Regional Office for Europe with her high level delegation , has met the President of the State, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and, of course, the Minister of Health, thus expressing WHO support to the SEEHN, but also acting as the SEEHN Ambassador. We are most grateful to Mrs. Zsuzsana Jakab for this extraordinary and continuous support to the SEEHN and innovative approach to partnerships in health. Further aligning SEEHN sub-regional policy with the European Health 2020 and especially the SEEHN Health 2020 implementing plan, were stressed as a priority for further SEEHN actions both by the SEEHN Member States at the event and by the SEEHN Executive Committee at their meeting.

 

We are grateful that at those high level meetings of WHO RD with country leadership, an understanding and support has been expressed to the SEEHN and its Secretariat' further strengthening.

 

We express our appreciation for the host country efforts, and especially Minister of Health, Mr. Todorov for investing in the SEEHN (Secretariat) and organizing such an successful event.

 

I would also wish to thank our people at the Secretariat: Mr. Jovica Andovski, Deputy Minister of Health (Acting Head of the Secretariat) and Mrs. Sanja Sazdovska and Aleksandar Kacarski, the MoH MKD seconded persons for their extraordinary efforts and huge work done in organizing this huge event. They were brilliant.

 

The Secretariat will now proceed with its regular activities, which are quite of a number and a scope, as discussed at the Executive Committee meeting on the 7th March (back to back with the round table), but with your support, I have no doubt of the results that we will achieve.

 

We have got a clear message by our ExeCom to focus on :

• providing sustainable development of the SEEHN and collect member states contributions (as per MoU 2009 and amendments 2011) not later than the end of Moldova Presidency (30 June, 2013)
• providing for increased visibility of our efforts through adopting both the SEEHN Communication Strategy and develop contemporary tools for communication and exchange
• Developing the SEEHN H2020 Action plan.
• Mobilize our partners to work with the SEEHN on concrete actions (Many thanks to HPH (Hanne), Project HOPE (Katerina) and our new partner aboard the SEEHN: Center for regional research and cooperation in the SEE -Studiorum (Neda) that have been working on the 7th and 8th March together at a concrete program, together with Maria (Ruseva) that we will be all presented at the SEEHN June 2013 Plenary meeting in Moldova)
• Mobilize further resources to support the SEEHN 2013 agenda (Thank you Alex (Berlin) for working (on the 6th and 8th of March) with SEEHN RHDC in Skopje and with MNE delegation in this direction.

As for the immediate action, the Secretariat will come up with full scale report on the event next week, based on which we will organize further activities.
 

The photo album will be shared with you shortly. For now, please find enclosed the press clipping to inform you of the excellent and very positive media coverage of the event, despite of ongoing process of local elections in the country.

 

With my best regards, Snezhana"

 

 

 

 

 

See the video clip of the Macedonian Information Agency at:

http://www.makedonija24.mk/play/sediste-vo-skopje-na-zdravstvenata-mreza-na-zemjite-od-jie)

The SEE Health Network is among the founding partners of the Global Network "Connecting Organizations for Regional Disease Survellance" (CORDS)

The SEE regional network on surveillance and control of communicable diseases, an important sub-network of the SEE Health Network, is among the founding partners and became part of the recently established Golbal Network  "Connecting Organizations for Regional Disease Surveillance" (CORDS).

 

CORDS was established in Lyon in 2012 and was launched in PMAC 2013 on 29 January 2013 in Bangkok during the conference "A World United Against Infectious Diseases –Cross Sectoral Solutions". CORDS has six founding regional disease surveillance networks, with plans to expand.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Animal Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are all affiliated with CORDS and welcome its activities.

 

CORDS promotes global exchanges of best practices, surveillance tools and strategies, training courses, innovations, successful operating procedures, case studies and other technical data. CORDS will speed the development, capabilities and sustainability of all its network members to improve global surveillance to detect disease outbreaks early and mitigate their global impact. CORDS will speed the detection of significant changes in endemic disease agents through cutting edge molecular epidemiology techniques .

In Bangkok, during parallel session 2.3 on Making Regional Networks Work, Dr.Silvia Bino, Director of the SEE Health Network Regional Health Development Centre for communicable diseases sureveillance and control, presented the experience of SEEHN in that important public health area.  Dr. Bino is also a member of international organizing committee of PMAC 2013.

 

Other representatives of the SEE regional network on surveillance and control of communicable diseases, in particular Dr. Angel Kunchev, Chief Public Health Officer, Ministry of Health, Bulgaria, Dr. Semra Cavaluga, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Dr. Stela Georghita, Ministry of Health, Republic of Moldova participated during the launch of CORDS and contributed to the conference discussions and proceedings.

 

To learn more about CORDS, please visit its website on:

http://www.cordsnetwork.org/