News Release

Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Launches New Assessment on Canada’s Strategic Role in Global Health

Ottawa (October 1st, 2010) – The Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) has launched a new major assessment entitled "Canada’s Strategic Role in Global Health". Enhancing global health and ensuring strategic investments in health research has become a priority for many industrialized countries. Canada is a significant player investing ~$500 million a year in global health, yet a concerted effort to analyze its strategic investments or policy choices – such as those done in the U.S. and U.K. - has not been done in Canada.

To this end, the CAHS has asked the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) to manage the process for an evidence-based assessment on Canada’s current role in global health, to assess its comparative advantage in the context of global health needs and to articulate a rationale for Canada to play a more significant role in global health leadership.

“The CAHS is very pleased to be undertaking this assessment with the management expertise of the CCA”, says Catharine Whiteside, President of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. “In order to understand Canada’s current role in global health and to build a vision for the future, such an assessment must undergo an intellectually rigorous, disciplined and independent process, as is the general practice of both our organizations.”

Comprised of experts from a variety of fields related to global health, including epidemiology, public health, international development, ethics and economics, the panel will convene for its first meeting in early December to consult with a number of experts in the field and agree on the structure of the report. The assessment will be chaired by Peter A. Singer, CEO of Grand Challenges Canada and Director of the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health, University Health Network and University of Toronto.

“Canadians are rightfully proud of our historical role in the world as peacekeepers and honest brokers, and our recent leadership on the world stage by hosting the Olympics, G8 and G20 meetings. ” says Dr. Singer. “We can also lead in global health by sharing our innovative spirit – in science, health systems, and social determinants -- and engaging more deeply with low and middle income countries.”

For a complete list of the panel members, please refer to page 3 of this news release.

Sponsorship for the assessment is provided by the Rockefeller Foundation, sanofi pasteur, and the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health.

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About the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
The CAHS is an independent, non-profit organization composed of selected members from diverse disciplines. It is both an honorific membership and a policy research organization. The Academy’s Fellows, elected on the basis of their professional achievement and commitment to service, are volunteers who commit their time and expertise to provide assessments and advice on difficult public policy challenges of concern to all Canadians in the area of health and health care. It is Canada’s equivalent of the U.S. Institute of Medicine. For information please visit the website at www.cahs-acss.ca.

About the Council of Canadian Academies
The Council of Canadian Academies is an independent, not-for-profit corporation that began operation in 2005. The Council supports evidence-based, expert assessments (studies) to inform public policy development in Canada. Assessments are conducted by independent, multidisciplinary panels of experts from across Canada and abroad. The Council’s blue-ribbon panels serve free of charge and many are Fellows of the Council’s Member Academies: the RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada; the Canadian Academy of Engineering; and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. The Council’s reports are published and made available to the public free of charge in English and French. For information please visit the Council’s website at www.scienceadvice.ca.

For more information contact:
Dr. John Cairns
Professor of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Chair of the CAHS Standing Committee on Assessments
604.875.4111 x66708
JACairns@medd.med.ubc.ca

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The Expert Panel on Canada’s Strategic Role in Global Health
Peter Singer (Chair), FRSC, FCAHS
Lorne Babiuk, O.C., FRSC, FCAHS
Jennifer Brenner
Lorna Jean Edmonds
Tim Evans
Michael Hayden, FRSC, FCAHS
Jody Heymann
Prabhat Jha
Aleksandra Leligdowicz
Anita McGahan
James Orbinski, O.C.
Jeff Reading, FCAHS
Allan Ronald, O.C., FRSC, FCAHS
Nelson Sewankambo
Peter Tugwell, FCAHS

RESIDENTS WITHOUT BORDERS
invites you to

A Workshop: Global Health Advocacy 101

Join us for an interactive session which will explore the many ways that health professionals can play a role in advocating for vulnerable populations. The CanMEDS roles highlight the fact that physicians, ideally, play an important role in advocating: for individual patients, for communities and for populations. As discussed at our first meeting, an interest in global health often comes with a genuine interest in vulnerable populations (whether in Canada or abroad)-- and an interest in effecting change to the systems that reinforce inequities in health.

What does "ADVOCACY" mean for those of us with an interest in the health of vulnerable populations and in global health? And how do we develop the skills needed for our roles as 'Global Health Advocates'? This session will be guided by 2 physicians who have both been exemplary in their work in advocating for change for populations that traditionally do not have a voice. Both of these speakers have extensive experience both within Toronto and abroad, and will no doubt lead an amazing session.


Monday, October 25, 2010 at 6:30pm
Location: TBA
Free to all interested
RSVP to saterkuile@yahoo.ca Food and drinks to be provided.

SPEAKER BIOS
Dr. Philip Berger
Chief, Department of Family and Community Medicine and Medical Director, Inner City Health Program at St. Michael's Hospital Dr. Berger has been involved with the treatment of HIV positive patients in Toronto since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the 1980's, and is a long-time and outspoken advocate for both the gay/lesbian community and injection drug using populations that he works with as a physician. He has published and lectured widely on critical health issues including drug addiction, the physical and psychological effects of torture and HIV/AIDS. In addition to his work here in Toronto, he served for 4 years as a locum physician at the Tepong (Place of Hope) Clinic, in the Leribe district, of Lesotho, Africa as part of the Ontario Hospital Association?s AIDS initiative (OHAfrica Project).

Dr. Katherine Rouleau
Assistant Professor, St. Michael's Hospital, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of TorontoDr. Rouleau is a family physician and the deputy chief in the Department of Family Medicine at St. Michael's Hospital. Her practice focuses on the inner city population including people living with HIV, the homeless, refugees and new immigrants, the poor and marginalized individuals. She teaches family medicine. Her academic activities currently focus on global health and capacity building in family medicine in low income countries. She currently directs the PGY3 Fellowship in Global Health and Vulnerable Populations for FM residents, and has also been involved with collaboration between the Department of Family and Community Medicine in Toronto and Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

Centre for International Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
presents

"The Global Health Challenge in North American Universities"

with
James M. Sherry M.D., Ph.D.Director, Center for Global Health, George Washington University

introduction by
Aaron Yarmoshuk, Director, HIV/AIDS Initiative-Africa
Program Manager, AMPATH-RH

Tuesday, October 19 at 4:30pm-5:30pm
Room 100, 155 College Street, Health Sciences Building
RSVP to elayna.fremes@utoronto.ca

Dr. Jim Sherry is a physician with doctorate degrees in medicine (University of Michigan), biochemistry (Carnegie-Mellon University) and clinical training in pediatrics (Children’s Hospital of Michigan). He has extensive program, policy, political, governance, and institutional development experience in global health, including seventeen years as a senior officer and director in the United Nations System with responsibilities ranging from the establishment of the Children’s Vaccine Initiative, UNAIDS, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to: the re-establishment of basic health care services in postwar Rwanda; supporting the negotiation of global health policy by the UN General Assembly and Security Council; providing support to the World Food Programme in the design of the Ending Child Hunger Initiative. Previous assignments have included serving as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in India as Director of Biomedical Research and Technology Development with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and as Chief of Staff for a Member of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress. Currently, Dr. Sherry is serving as Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Health of George Washington University.

George Washington University is the lead North American university for the Public Health component of the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH). The AMPATH Consortium is composed of a number of medical schools in North America. The University of Toronto is the lead North American university for the Reproductive Health component of AMPATH. Indiana University is the overall North American lead of AMPATH, The AMPATH Consortium works to support the capacity development of Moi University School of Medicine and the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and primary health care services in western Kenya.

16th Canadian Conference on International Health

If anyone is interested in the 16th Canadian Conference on International Health, please check out their website for more information at http://www.csih.org/en/ccih/overview.asp. It seems really interesting as it covers three themes, a theme a day. For those who have attended this conference in the past, please share your thoughts and experience with us. Thanks!

Health Equity: Our Global Responsibility

16th Annual Canadian Conference on International Health

Sunday, October 25th to Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Crowne Plaza Ottawa Hotel

101 Lyon Street N, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 5T9

Canadians, as global citizens, first declared our commitment to health equity and social justice in 1948 with the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights; Canadians continue the commitment through our participation in the implementation of the Global Call to Action: Closing the Gap in One Generation. In spite of significant progress and improved health status over the last 60 years, as global citizens, we continue to be challenged to live up to our promise.

We have a responsibility to work toward health equity, social justice, and universal attainment of human rights. To be effective, communities - with governments, non-government organizations and the private sector - must work in partnership, with a common vision. Addressing the social determinants of health, such as, - security of food, shelter, safety, education, income, poverty, employment, and access to care - will create the necessary foundations for our solutions.

The 2009 Canadian Conference on International Health (CCIH) will examine inequities of health status, and the impact on the health of marginalized, vulnerable and Indigenous populations of changing environments, whether these changes are due to climate, technology, the economy or threats to human security.

We invite presentations exploring lessons learned and new ways of understanding health equity and social justice locally, nationally and globally. The Call for Abstracts for Papers and Posters will be open on February 25, 2009. Anticipated outcomes of the conference will be:

1. evidence of improvements in social determinants and their impacts on health and social outcomes

2. evidence of the impact of environmental technological and economic change on health equity

3. consideration of the need for a paradigm shift in intersectoral policy and practice, locally, nationally and internationally

4. a summary of the current thought and discourse on Canada’s responsibility, in Canada and globally, for health equity and social justice (addressing our original 1948 commitment), and proposed ways forward.

Addressing these challenges the 2009 Canadian Conference on International Health will consist of daily plenary sessions, several topic-focused symposia, followed by a number of parallel “paper sessions” and a poster session/reception.

THEME AREAS (Note: Global, National and Local experiences will be welcome on each day)

Day 1: Ethics and Responsibility, Economics and Social Determinants

• Economics: Achieving the MDGs: Hope or Despair
• Ethics: Partnerships and Capacity
• Social Determinants of Health: Evidence, Achievements and Challenges
• Searching for Social Justice: Achievements and Challenges

Day 2: Global Health Diplomacy (GHD)

• Social reform, responsibility, accountability:
• Global Health Diplomacy and the G8
• Diplomacy and Ethical Aid
• Responsible Health Security: Ethics and Reality
• Health in all policies: The Role of Global Health Diplomacy
• Role of academe/ the role of civil society in Global Health Diplomacy: Training and capacity building and action
• Indigenous participation and perspectives

Day 3: Social Determinants of Health: Think Globally, Act Locally

• Rolling out the MDGs
• Implementing the Social Determinants of Health: What’s Working
• Advocacy and Social Determinants of Health: Does It Work?
• Sustainable Environments in the Context of Global Change
• Social Determinants of Health and Vulnerable Populations: Evidence and Action
• Indigenous World Views and Contribution to Social Determinants of Health

This conference will bring attention to our responsibility as global citizens to take action on progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals and ultimately health equity. The conference will address the best evidence and action on the progress of the MDGs, the role of health diplomacy and the evidence and opportunities for action as we integrate a social determinants of health framework into our policies programs and action at the global, national and local level.

Africa Health Systems Initiative Research Competition

I would like to share this with anyone who may be interested in receiving a grant to conduct a research related to global health. If interested, please see the article below. For additional information, please visit: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-114684-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

Funding Opportunities: Africa Health Systems Initiative Research Competition

The Global Health Research Initiative Launches a New Research Grants Competition!

The Global Health Research Initiative (GHRI) is a partnership formed by five Canadian agencies - the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; the Canadian International Development Agency, Health Canada; the International Development Research Centre; and the Public Health Agency of Canada- to strengthen Canada’s role on the global health research scene.

The research component of the “Africa Health Systems Initiative” (AHSI-RES) is a 5-year research program (2008-2013) that forms one component of the Africa Health System Initiative (AHSI) supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

This Call for Proposals invites teams of researchers and decision-makers to submit research proposals focusing on: Human Resources for Health (HRH) and/or Health Information Systems (HIS). Equity is a cross-cutting theme.

• Registration due: March 13 2009
• Full application due: April 22 2009
• Geographic areas of focus: - Francophone West Africa - Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin - Great Lakes and Eastern Africa - Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya - Southern Africa - Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia
• All enquiries should be addressed to ahsi-res@idrc.ca

Human right to water.

Some quick details and online resources about water and sanitation, as released by RESULTS-Canada:

Sharing info. about the right to water, and the need for it to be included in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as article 31!

About Water
Of the 6 billion people on earth, 1.1 billion do not have access to safe, clean drinking water.
(www.charitywater.org)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency currently does not regulate 51 known water contaminants. (www.foodandwaterwatch.org)

While the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day, those in developing countries cannot find five.
(www.charitywater.org)

The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
(www.water.org)

According to the National Resources Defense Council, in a scientific study in which more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water were tested, about one-third of the bottles contained synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic. (www.nrdc.org)
Water is a $400 billion dollar global industry; the third largest behind electricity and oil.

CBS News, FLOW (www.flowthefilm.com)
There are estimates that from five hundred thousand to seven million people get sick per year from drinking tap water.

Our own little pieces of Coltan . . .

What do you do when you're complicit in war . . .

Please read more about how we carry a little piece of the bloodshed and unrest in our pockets in an article about Coltan, the civil war, and the Congo in a piece by Johann Hari

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-how-we-fuel-africas-bloodiest-war-978461.html