Cape Town, South Africa will host the 13th International Congress on Medical Informatics from 12–15 September 2010. This is the first time the Congress will be held in Africa. It promises to boost exposure to grassroots healthcare delivery and the underpinning health information systems. This will open the door to new academic partnerships into the future and help to nurture a new breed of health informaticians. The theme is ‘Partnerships for Effective e-Health Solutions’, with a particular focus on how innovative collaborations can promote sustainable solutions to health challenges. It is well recognised that information and communication technologies have enormous potential for improving the health and lives of individuals. Innovative and effective change using such technologies is reliant upon people working together in partnerships to create innovative and effective solutions to problems with particular regard to contextual and environmental factors. The Congress seeks to bring together the health informatics community from across the globe to work together and share experiences and knowledge to promote sustainable solutions for health.
Jobs and Announcements
A growing group of health advocates and activists are engaging to promote during 2010 issues relating to accountability and transparency, within a rights and responsibilities approach in health. In common cause, in a collective vow of non-silence, all agree to speak up and voice concerns of questionable practices by both authorities and civil society. According to a petition circulated by the group, they are calling for greater accountability and transparency from institutions, organisations, and individuals in public sector health services.
With the recent establishment of two separate World Health Organization (WHO)/Stop TB task forces – one on ethics and the other on human rights – a number of issues have been raised that should have wider input. This survey is the first of a series of quick questionnaires to 'Take the Pulse' of the broad based tuberculosis (TB) community – patients, professionals, programmers and public in affected communities – on ethical and rights issues. The World Care Council invites individuals to fill in the questionnaire on the World Care Council website.
On the 9th of September, with partners and peers around the world, the World Care Council began a year-long process of Taking the Pulse of Global Health. This series of 'Outreach for Input' actions aims to gather the views and opinions of thousands of people on the state of health care services in their communities, and what they think is needed in the future. Using online polls, telephone surveys, web-forums and physical meetings, a new system of public consultation is being launched. This process is to encourage the greater involvement of all individuals, as part of civil society, and their organisations, in decisions about health in their country. Broad participation in these actions will help advocates and activists to influence health policy 'at the top', and help to forge the tools for change to be held by many hands 'on the bottom'. Results and data will be published on the World Care Council website, and can provide both food for thought and fuel for action. The first Global Survey is now online. It takes about ten minutes to complete the 30 multiple choice questions.
Three leading paediatric associations are uniting to host the 26th IPA Congress of Pediatrics in Johannesburg, South Africa from 4–9 August 2010. More than 5,000 participants are expected to attend this landmark event, the first IPA congress to be held in sub-Saharan Africa. It will unite paediatricians and health professionals working towards the target set by Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce child mortality by two thirds before 2015. The scientific programme is designed to meet the needs of general paediatricians from both the developed and the developing world. Plenary sessions will include: the MDGs and the current state of health of children in the world, and progress towards the MDGs; the state of the world’s newborns, including major issues determining maternal and newborn health in developing and developed countries; the determinants of health, such as genetics, nutrition and the environment; disasters and trauma affecting child health, such as disasters, crises and the worldwide epidemic of trauma; and the global burden of infectious diseases affecting children and the challenge of emerging infections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is expanding its activities on environmental impact assessment in the health sector. WHO seeks an independent consultant to develop tools, guidance, and monitoring and reporting frameworks for use in assessing and managing environmental issues affected by health sector projects and activities. The scope of work for this consultancy consists of three tasks: design and implementation of customised environmental screening and impact assessment tools; development of environmental monitoring and reporting framework and related information management systems; and contribute to training materials to build capacity for the use of the above. The consultancy will be for six months and will start at the end of February 2010 (or as soon as reasonably possible). The consultant will be remunerated at a monthly rate that is commensurate with their experience and based on the United Nations common salary scale. Expression of interest must be emailed to Michaela Pfeiffer, Technical Officer, WHO, at the email address given, before the closing date.
Africa has a new continental body, the African Governance Institute (AGI), based in Dakar, Senegal. AGI interim director, Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, explained that the main ‘added-value’ of the Institute is ‘to institutionalise African reflection on governance in Africa […] because we think that it is important that the people who live the realities of African societies and African states are better placed to understand what is going on and to propose solutions for a better future.’ He announced that AIG will convene a series of Conferences in 2010, including one with Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on democracy and human rights ‘...to make this added-value a reality.’ The AGI’s programme of action was formally launched at an inaugural workshop on 3-4 November in Dakar. On 24 November, the AGI and ECDPM signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a strategic partnership, which aims to enhance both organisations’ work in supporting the African Governance Architecture and enhancing the dialogue strategies and development support of Africa’s European partners.
Abstract submission for IPA 2010 is still open. Participants wishing to propose papers for oral or poster presentations are invited to submit their abstracts via the Congress website address given here. Abstracts should be limited to 250 words. Topics include: child health and survival; Millennium Development Goals; neurology; cardiology; dermatology; endocrinology, diabetes, obesity and adolescent medicine; genetics, congenital anomalies; infectious diseases; allergy and immunology; development, neurodevelopmental disability and other long term outcome studies; pulmonology; nephrology; nutrition, gastroenterology and metabolism; pharmacology; neonatology; haematology and oncology; education and training; paediatric surgery and surgical sub-specialties; and miscellaneous topics. Only abstracts of authors who have paid their registration fees by 31 March 2010 will be scheduled and included in the final programme.
Carleton University’s Centre for Media and Transitional Societies (CMTS), in collaboration with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is launching a call for concept notes, in French or English, outlining proposed research examining the impact of convergence between traditional radio and new information and communications technologies (ICTs) in sub-Saharan Africa. Ultimately, the purpose of this competitive research project is both to generate important research and to support African researchers in their efforts to produce rigorous and analytical social science research findings on the ways that radio and the growth and penetration of new ICTs, such as mobile phones, the Internet and other digital technologies, have affected social, cultural, political and economic development. All interested applicants are required to submit a concept note outlining a synopsis of a proposed research idea. Based on the assessment of the concept notes, shortlisted applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal in early 2010.
UNITAID is a global health initiative, established to provide sustainable, predictable and additional funding to significantly impact on market dynamics to reduce prices and increase the availability and supply of high quality medicines, diagnostics and related commodities for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, primarily for populations in low-income and lower-middle income countries. This is a transparent "call for interest" from individuals wishing to apply for membership of their Proposal Review Committee ("PRC"); an independent, impartial team of experts tasked with providing technical expertise to UNITAID on proposals and related projects submitted to UNITAID for funding. Details of how to submit an application are at http://www.unitaid.eu/en/Requests-for-proposals-RFP.html with individual TORs and expertise criteria.