Co-led by WHO and UNICEF, and with the support of the governments of Sweden and Botswana, the High-level Global Thematic Consultation on Health in the post-2015 agenda took place on 5-6 March 2013, in Botswana. This was one of 11 United Nations thematic consultations to help define the priorities of the future development agenda. As part of the ongoing consultation towards a final report that will be presented in May 2013, interested parties are invited to make contributions. Some commentators have noted a lack of inputs from low- and middle-income countries. CHESTRAD specifically calls on all contributors from these countries. The draft report is included in this newsletter.
Jobs and Announcements
Call for contributions to the draft report of the High-level Global Thematic Consultation on Health
Centre for Health Sciences Training, Research and Development (CHESTRAD): March 2013
Contact: chestrad-ngo.org@mail49.us1.mcsv.net
CARTA PhD Fellowships
Deadline: 15 April 2013
The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) is an initiative of nine African universities, four African research institutes, and selected northern partners. CARTA offers an innovative model for doctoral training in sub-Saharan Africa to strengthen the capacity of participating institutions to conduct and lead internationally competitive research. Applications are now open for fellowships.
New research consortium focuses on close-to-community healthcare
http://www.reachoutconsortium.org
A new 5-year, EU-funded programme comprising partners from Bangladesh (BRAC University), Ethiopia (Sidama Health Zone/TB Reach), Indonesia (Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology), Kenya (LVCT), Malawi (REACH Trust), Mozambique (University Eduardo Mondlane) will investigate the role of close-to-community health workers in improving health outcomes in Africa and Asia. Although interventions to promote community health workers are increasingly popular, it is not clear if this model of healthcare provision can work in all settings, and what support is needed to ensure quality services reach those most in need of them in poor and remote communities. Coordinated by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and supported by KIT, REACHOUT research will uncover the contribution of different close-to-community healthcare interventions to any improvements in practice and to find out what works, in which context and why.
Public seminar: Health R&D as a Global Public Good: Cross-sectoral Learning
24 April 2013: Geneva
The purpose of the proposed seminar and workshop is to examine how to secure collective action to provide global public goods through research and development (R&D) and innovation for the specific health needs of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Specifically, the event will explore how to learn from other sectors (such as agriculture, the environment and energy) in order to secure fair and sustainable contributions that ensure the provision of global public goods. Following the introductory keynote address by Professor Kaul, a high-level panel, with policy-makers from high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs, will discuss key issues relating to current efforts to organise the production of global public goods for health where the market has been failing. The public seminar is free and open to anyone and aims to attract, in particular, representatives of intergovernmental organisations, country missions, civil society and the private sector.
Seventh SAHARA Conference 2013
7-10 October 2013: Dakar, Senegal
The Social Aspects of HIV and AIDS Research Alliance (SAHARA), established in 2001 by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), is an alliance of partners established to conduct, support and use social sciences research to prevent the further spread of HIV and mitigate the impact of its devastation in sub-Saharan Africa. The SAHARA 7 conference theme is "Translating evidence into action: Engaging with communities, policies, human rights, gender, service delivery".
Sixth South African AIDS Conference
18-21 June 2013: Durban, South Africa
The Sixth South African AIDS Conference will be held in Durban from 18-21 June 2013. The conference theme is "Building on our successes: Integrating responses". As South Africa enters the fourth decade of HIV and AIDS, the conference aims to look back at lessons learnt and reflect, celebrate the gains made, and find ways to build on past successes by integrating HIV with other health responses. The conference will bring together various members of the HIV research community, including clinicians, academics, civil society and government.
The Barcelona Course in Health Financing: Universal Coverage
13–17 May 2013: Barcelona, Spain
The 2013 World Health Organisation (WHO) Barcelona Course in Health Financing will review effective policy instruments to improve health system performance through better health financing policy. The special theme of the course is moving towards and sustaining universal coverage with a highlight on how to counter the impact of economic downturns. The course is built around the following modules: designing a benefit package (equity, affordability and transparency); raising revenues (thinking outside the box); pooling health revenues (the cost of fragmentation); purchasing (getting more health for the money); and coordinating reform (aligning policy instruments with policy objectives). The course is free.
Contact: whobar@euro.who.int
Third Global Forum On Human Resources For Health
Recife, Brazil: 10–13 November 2013
The World Health Organisation’s Workforce Alliance convened the First and the Second Global Forums on Human Resources for Health, in 2008 in Uganda, and 2011 in Thailand respectively. The Global Forums brought together key experts, fellow champions as well as frontline health workers around the common goal of improving the human resources for health to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals. Both Forums concluded with the adoption from committed participants of ambitious agendas suitable to translate political will, leadership and partnership into sustainable and effective actions. The Third Global Forum will be held in Recife, Brazil, from 10–13 November 2013.
Call for applications: 2013 MILEAD Fellowship
Deadline: 15 March 2013
The Moremi Initiative for Women's Leadership in Africa (Moremi Initiative) is calling for applications for the 2013 Moremi Leadership Empowerment and Development (MILEAD) Fellows Programme. The Programme is a long-term leadership development programme designed to identify, develop and promote emerging young African women leaders to attain and thrive in leadership roles in their community and Africa as a whole. The programme targets young women interested in developing transformational leadership skills that help them address issues facing women and girls across communities in Africa. It aims to equip Fellows with the requisite knowledge, skills, values and networks they need to succeed as 21st century women leaders. Applications are welcome from young African women ages 19-25, living in Africa and the Diaspora. Specific requirements of the programme and related dates are outlined in the application package.
Fifth Annual HIV-In-Context Research Symposium: Urbanisation, Inequality And HIV
13 March 2013 - 15 March 2013: Cape Town, South Africa
From its base in the University of the Western Cape’s School of Public Health, this year’s HIV in Context Research Symposium looks beyond biomedicine at some of the social determinants of HIV, and of responses to HIV, within and outside the health sector. The Symposium will examine the links between HIV, inequality and the dynamics and impacts of urbanisation – dynamics that play out between settings as people move permanently or temporarily to urban centres, and within the highly unequal spaces constituting South African cities. The particular experience of Cape Town as a destination and transit point on migration trajectories will be examined in relation to other cities in South Africa and beyond. Through diverse disciplinary and sectoral lenses, practitioners, researchers, policy makers and civil society activists will examine the many ways in which urbanisation, inequality and HIV interact and affect people’s lives.