CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS AND ABSTRACTS EQUINET Regional Meeting on Strategies for Equitable Allocation of Health Care Resources, Johannesburg, 18-20 April 2005 Call Closes On 14 March 2005 This call invites applicants to participate in and present work at the EQUINET regional meeting on “Strategies for Equitable Allocation of health care Resources,” being held in co-operation with the Health Economics Unit, University of Cape Town (HEU) and the Centre for Health Policy, University of the Witwatersrand (CHP) in Johannesburg, South Africa, 18-20 April 2005. The call: EQUINET invites researchers and practitioners working on strategies and mechanisms for promoting the equitable allocation of health care resources to participate in a regional meeting to ? Discuss and exchange evidence and experience on alternative approaches to identifying those most in need of public sector health care resources and for equitably allocating resources between areas with different resource needs, as well as evidence on progress with implementing equitable resource allocation strategies; ? Collaboratively undertake a comparative analysis of the approaches adopted, and experience of these approaches, in Southern and East Africa countries; ? Identify areas for follow up research, training and policy review to strengthen mechanisms for equitable resource allocation; ? Identify other areas for future research of relevance to promoting fair financing in health systems in Southern and East African countries. We invite interested organisations and individuals to submit an application to participate with information on their work and role in this area (see below). Applicants can also apply for EQUINET sponsorship to the meeting (see below). Applications need to be sent to the EQUINET secretariat by 11 March 2005. The programme: The Regional Network on Equity and Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET) (www.equinetafrica.org) recognised that there are generally substantial differences in health care resources between geographic areas (e.g. districts or regions) within countries in the region and that explicit mechanisms or strategies are required to encourage an equitable distribution of limited resources. EQUINET has been carrying out research work to determine appropriate resource allocation strategies in Namibia, Tanzania and South Africa amongst other Southern African countries. This work has been co-ordinated by HEU and CHP. The multicountry programme explored: i. the extent of current resource allocation inequities in each country; ii. mechanisms of identifying areas with the greatest needs (including through measuring deprivation levels); iii. public preferences in relation to the allocation of limited resources; and iv. alternative mechanisms for promoting an equitable allocation of resources, primarily needs-based formulae. The regional meeting: The EQUINET/ HEU/ CHP regional meeting will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa on 18-20 April 2005 and will review the results of the multicountry programme and of other experiences in the region of equitable health care resource allocation strategies. The meeting aims to share experience over a 3 day period from individuals and organisations working in east and southern Africa. In addition, there will be discussion of broader ‘fair financing’ issues in order to identify a follow-up programme of training, research and policy review in the region on a wide range of mechanisms that may be important in contributing to equitable health care financing, particularly in terms of promoting greater cross-subsidies in overall health systems. EQUINET also propose to produce a report on experiences in the region with resource allocation which will be based on the comparative analysis undertaken at the workshop. Call for participation and applications: Interested applicants should submit a 1-2 page ‘expression of interest’ that outlines ? a title that summarises their work in this area ? an abstract of the research question, methods and key findings in this area OR a summary of the work they are doing in this area, that they would want to present at the meeting ? a personal CV, ? brief information on the institution that they work in, and ? a sample document written by the applicant on any relevant theme. ? An indication of whether they are self sponsored or whether they need sponsorship for travel, or accommodation, or both Applicants should submit this information by 14th March 20045 to the EQUINET secretariat admin@equinetafrica.org and copy it to dimac@heu.uct.ac.za and lucy.gilson@nhls.ac.za Applicants will be informed by 18th March 2005 on the outcome of their submission, including sponsorship and of the logistic details for the meeting. Participants of existing EQUINET programmes are welcome to apply. Focal points for queries on this programme are Prof Di McIntyre at HEU and Prof Lucy Gilson (CHP). Please send queries through admin@equinetafrica.org