Christopher J L Murray, executive director. Evidence and Information for Policy, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
Braveman et al criticise the World Health Organiztion's approach of measuring the full spectrum of health inequalities in a population. They argue for a selective approach in which only health inequalities correlated with factors such as income, social class, or race should matter. Such a selective approach runs counter to the literature on inequality in other disciplines and runs the risk of discouraging scientific inquiry into the causes of inequality.
Equity in Health
World Health Report 2000
Commentary: comprehensive approaches are needed for full understanding
Contact: murrayc@who.ch
World Health Report 2000:
how it removes equity from the agenda for public health monitoring and policy
Paula Braveman, professor of family and community medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Barbara Starfield, university distinguished professor, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MA, USA; H Jack Geiger, Logan professor of community medicine, emeritus c., City University of New York Medical School, Department of Community Health and Social Medicine, New York, NY, USA. BMJ September 22, 2001;323 678-681.
The World Health Organization’s World Health Report 2000 deserves praise for recommending that national health systems be assessed not only by the average health status of a country’s population but also by the extent to which health varies within the population. We are concerned, however, that the report’s approach to measuring health inequalities does not support -- and actually undermines -- efforts to achieve greater equity in health within nations, according to any meaningful definition of equity. We believe that the report’s measure of health inequalities lacks practical utility in general for guiding national policy because it provides no information to guide resource allocation or to target policies. In addition, it does not measure socioeconomic or other social disparities in health within countries. It therefore -- when used, as its authors implicitly and explicitly recommend, as a substitute for monitoring social inequalities in health -- removes consideration of equity and human rights from the routine measurement and reporting of health disparities within nations.
World's ageing population could lead to permanent recession
Over the next few decades, one of the most pressing issues, at both the national and international levels, will be the undeniable ageing of the world's richest peoples. Last month, at a Tokyo conference entitled Aging and the Global Economy, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies warned us that the world's wealthiest countries are ageing too quickly.
AIDS expert challenges ethical stance on drug trials
Measures to protect people in developing countries from being exploited in medical research trials may prevent some projects going ahead that could improve the health of poor people, a leading scientist has warned.
Angola: Plans to Launch HIV/AIDS Testing Project
The Angolan government plans to launch an HIV/AIDS testing and counselling project to analyse the prevalence of the disease in the country, official news agency Angop has reported.
BBC: "Tobacco On Trial"
The tobacco industry claims to employ 30 million people worldwide. But it produces a product that has serious health implications for millions more. Governments are negotiating new international controls. This website helps you to understand the health, political and economic issues at stake as tobacco goes on trial.
Botswana: Government to Test Students for HIV/AIDS
The Botswana government may soon test all prospective students for HIV/AIDS, reported the 'Botswana Gazette' on Thursday. Addressing first year students of the University of Botswana last week, career guidance officers from the Ministry of Education said the government was considering testing students compulsorily.
Botswana: Interview With National AIDS Coordinator
Botswana has one of the world's highest percentages of people living with HIV/AIDS. Latest figures from UNAIDS suggest more than 35 percent of Botswana's adult population carry the virus. Stigma and denial remain huge impediments to fighting the disease. A recent government report found that many Batswana still believe that HIV/AIDS was a foreign disease, which is not in Botswana or is only found in urban areas. Head of the National AIDS Coordinating Group (NACG), Babu Khan, spoke to IRIN about the challenges associated with tackling the epidemic.
Curbing the Epidemic:
Governments and the Economics of Tobacco Control
A World Bank study on tobacco in developing countries. "Developing countries can prevent millions of premature deaths and much disability if they adopt measures to reduce the demand for tobacco" according to the study. "To effectively reduce demand, governments can raise cigarette taxes, ban the advertising and promotion of tobacco products, and provide information on the health risks smoking causes directly or through research."
Developing Countries See Increase in Birth Defects
More Women Use Misoprostol in Effort to End Pregnancies
Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa and the Philippines are experiencing a "minor epidemic of birth defects" because poor women are taking misoprostol in an attempt to end their pregnancies, the New Scientist reports.