Global Health

From Minnesota to Seoul?: The DeWall Helix Bubble Oxygenator and Technology Transfer in Open-Heart Surgery, 1955–1965

by John P. DiMoia

CTTS 2009

Culturally-based health promotion programmes

by Michael Elmore-Meegan

Solar disinfection of drinking water contained in transparent plastic bottles : characterizing the bacterial inactivation process

by Michael Elmore-Meegan

Effect on neonatal tetanus mortality after a culturally-based health promotion programme

by Michael Elmore-Meegan

Child weighing by the unschooled: a report of a controlled study of growth monitoring over 12 months of Maasai children using direct recording scales

by Michael Elmore-Meegan

The European Union's voice and influence on global health and the reform of the WHO: the role of diplomacy

by Samantha Battams

co-authored with Louise van Schaik and Remco van de Pas

This paper explores the implications of the Lisbon Treaty for the European Union’s (EU) role in global health. It also... more This paper explores the implications of the Lisbon Treaty for the European Union’s (EU) role in global health. It also considers the EU position at the World Health Organisation (WHO) and specifically on the reform debate where the WHO’s core business, financing, governance and management operations are under review. The paper examines the extent to which the EU represents a single voice in discussions and questions where the EU’s performance is undermined by disputes over EU competence on global health, WHO governance procedures, a lack of common EU policy objectives or other incoherencies. It also considers other factors contributing to EU performance in the WHO, and the extent to which the EU brings the experience of EU internal governance practices to the table. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with EU staff, professionals from EU and non EU member states. Results suggest that vertical integration across parts of the EU/EC was well-developed, however there was more scope for integration on global health strategy across the EU. Whilst there was good coordination on the WHO reform, there was also little involvement on the reform across MS (EU and non-EU). Tensions arose between the EU and MS when it came to institutional rather than technical matters. There was more scope for horizontal integration across health, foreign policy, research and development within and across the EU and MS. The ‘single voice’ and effectiveness of EU representation was affected by a number of factors, including MS trust in EU representation, flexibility in negotiations, lengthy EU coordination processes, MS vying for influence within the EU, and MS rather than EU engagement in behind the scenes and ‘soft power’ diplomacy. The results are considered in light

The Intersectional Determinants of Systematic Global Health Inequality: The Effects of International Policy

by Laura Robinson

Paper for intro Social Health class - 2011

Geospatial resources for supporting data standards, guidance and best practice in health informatics

by Tony Mathys

BioMed Central (BMC) Research Notes.
BMC Research Notes 2011, 4:19 doi:10.1186/1756-0500-4-19

Tony Mathys and Professor Maged N. Kamel Boulos (Plymouth University)

This paper describes a variety of resources available for the health research and public health sector to use for... more This paper describes a variety of resources available for the health research and public health sector to use for managing and sharing their data. The Go-Geo! service is one resource which offers an SDI for the eclectic range of disciplines using GIS in UK academia, including health informatics.

The benefits of data management and sharing are immense, and in these times of cost restraints, these resources can be seen as solutions to find cost savings which can be reinvested in more research.

Maternal Responsibilities and the Trajectory of Blame in Northern Ghana

by Aaron Denham

(2012) in "Risk, Reproduction and Narratives of Experience." Fordyce, L., & A. Maraesa, eds. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

http://www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com/books/478/risk-reproduction-and-narratives-of-experience

Multimorbidity in primary care: a systematic review of prospective cohort studies

by Frances Mair

Authors: France, Emma F1; Wyke, Sally2; Gunn, Jane M3; Mair, Frances S4; McLean, Gary4; Mercer, Stewart W4
Source: British Journal of General Practice, Volume 62, Number 597, April 2012 , pp. e297-e307(11)
Publisher: Royal College of General Practitioners

Abstract:
Background
Primary care increasingly deals with patients with multimorbidity, but relevant... more Abstract:
Background
Primary care increasingly deals with patients with multimorbidity, but relevant evidence-based interventions are scarce. Knowledge about multimorbidity over time is required to inform the development of effective interventions.
Aim
This review identifies prospective cohort studies of multimorbidity in primary care to determine: their nature, scope and key findings; the methodologies used; and gaps in knowledge.
Design
Systematic review.
Method
Studies were identified by searching electronic databases, reviewing citations, and writing to authors. Searches were limited to adult populations with no restrictions on publication date or language. In total, 996 articles were identified and screened.
Results
Of the 996 articles, six detailing five completed prospective cohort studies were selected as appropriate. Three of the studies were undertaken in the US and two in The Netherlands; none was nationally representative. The main focus of the studies was: healthcare utilisation and/or costs (n = 3); patients' physical functioning (n = 1); and risk factors for developing multimorbidity (n = 1). The conditions that were included varied widely. The findings of these studies showed that multimorbidity increased healthcare costs (n = 2), inpatient admission (n = 1), death rates (n = 1), and service use (n = 3), and reduced physical functioning (n = 1). One study identified psychosocial risk factors for multimorbidity. No study used random sampling, sample sizes were relatively small (414-3745 patients at baseline), and study duration was relatively short (1-4 years). No study focused on prevalence, treatment use, patient safety, service models, cultural or socioeconomic factors, and patient experience, and no study collected qualitative data.
Conclusion
Few longitudinal studies based in primary care have investigated multimorbidity. Further large, long-term prospective studies are required to inform healthcare commissioning, planning, and delivery.

The EU’s role in global health and the WHO reform; between health and foreign policy

by Samantha Battams

The Case for Europe as a Leader in Research and Innovation for Global Health

by Samantha Battams

An ethnographic look at the status of health of women living in an urban squatter settlement of Karachi.

by Sabeena Jalal

co authored with Dr Nasreen Aslam Shah, Published in Pakistan journal of Gender Studies.

Global Bioethics at UNESCO: In Defence of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights

by Roberto Andorno

Journal of Medical Ethics, 2007, vol. 33, p. 150-154.

This paper argues in support of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights adopted by UNESCO on 19... more This paper argues in support of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights adopted by UNESCO on 19 October 2005. As a member of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee (IBC), the author was involved in the drafting of this instrument. Drawing on this experience, he gives an overview of the principal features of the Declaration before responding to two general charges that have been levelled at UNESCO’s bioethical activities and at this particular document. One criticism is to the effect that UNESCO is exceeding its mandate by drafting such bioethical instruments – in particular, the charge is that it is trespassing on a field that lies within the responsibility of the WHO. The second criticism is that UNESCO’s reliance on a human rights framework is inappropriate.

Requesting Aid: State Applications for Global Fund Grants

by Patrick Theiner

In my second working paper, the question is what explains whether or not states apply to the Global Fund for grants.... more In my second working paper, the question is what explains whether or not states apply to the Global Fund for grants. Since the payoffs from seeing a grant approved far outweigh the costs of filing the application, it would make sense for states to apply as often as they can. Yet the average developing nation was eligible for 23.7 grants in nine years, but only decided to apply 6.4 times. I find that these decisions are mainly based on economic considerations, and on the prior relationship with the Fund, rather than actual public health pressures. An updated version of this paper will be presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the European Political Science Association, Berlin, June 2012.

Decision-Making in Multilateral Development Aid: The Case of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

by Patrick Theiner

In this first paper, I analyze Global Fund grant decision-making using a principal-agent framework. I find that the... more In this first paper, I analyze Global Fund grant decision-making using a principal-agent framework. I find that the decision of whether or not to recommend a grant for funding is dependent on the preferences of the Global Fund's experts, and so is the size of these grants. However, grant discrepancy (the difference between proposed and approved amounts) is significantly affected by the strategic and economic preferences of the Fund's six largest state donors.

Previous versions of this paper were presented at the Annual National Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, March 2011; and at the SGIR 7th Pan-European Conference on IR, Stockholm, September 2010.

Building the HIVe: Disrupting Biomedical HIV and AIDS Research with Gay Men, other men who have sex with men (MSM) and Transgenders

by Gurmit Singh

Co-authored with Christoper S. Walsh

The problematization of medical tourism: a critique of neoliberalism

by Kristen Smith

Published in 'Developing World Bioethics', Vol. 12, Iss. 1, 2012, pp. 1-8.

ABSTRACT

The past two decades have seen the extensive privatisation and marketisation of health care in an... more ABSTRACT

The past two decades have seen the extensive privatisation and marketisation of health care in an ever reaching number of developing countries. Within this milieu, medical tourism is being promoted as a rational economic development strategy for some developing nations, and a makeshift solution to the escalating waiting lists and exorbitant costs of health care in developed nations. This paper explores the need to problematize medical tourism in order to move beyond one dimensional neoliberal discourses that have, to date, dominated the arena. In this problematization, the paper discusses a range of understandings and uses of the term ‘medical tourism’ and situates it within the context of the neoliberal economic development of health care internationally. Drawing on theory from critical medical anthropology and health and human rights perspectives, the paper critically analyzes the assumed independence between the medical tourism industry and local populations facing critical health issues, where social, cultural and economic inequities are widening in terms of access, cost and quality of health care. Finally, medical tourism is examined in the local context of India, critiquing the increasingly indistinct roles played by government and private sectors, whilst linking these shifts to global market forces.

Academic institutions as agents for international outreach

by Ira Leeds

Is it time to change guidelines for iron supplementation in malarial areas?

by Ira Leeds