The draft code sets out guiding principles and voluntary international standards for recruitment of health workers, to increase the consistency of national policies and discourage unethical practices, while promoting an equitable balance of interests among health workers, source countries and destination countries. Consistent with contemporary international legal practice, the initial draft of the code also aims to establish an international procedural structure to foster national dialogue, commitment and action on health worker migration. It does not aim to comprehensively address and resolve all of the complex substantive issues raised by the international recruitment of health personnel. Rather, its goal is to provide a straightforward framework and platform on which to launch negotiations. World Health Organization member states may potentially consider and elaborate more detailed national and international commitments in the final version of the code or in future international instruments. Feedback comments are invited on the World Health Organization paper on the code.
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The Erasmus Observatory on Health Law will be hosting the upcoming International Conference on Healthcare and Trade on the 10th and 11th of December, 2009. The conference will focus on the influence of the law of both the European Union and the World Trade Organization on trade in health services, health insurance services and health goods (pharmaceuticals). The application of the European Community Treaty, the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to national regulation of health services, health insurance services and pharmaceuticals raises questions of applicability of, compatibility with and possible exceptions to the provisions of these instruments. Further research and discussion in this area is ongoing. The conference aims to contribute to the discussion, attempting to formulate both legal and economic answers. Please refer to the programme and the application form attached to this news item.
The Bulletin of the World Health Organization would appreciate assistance from Bulletin readers to address the question: What is a fair test of a health-care policy? There are three ways in which you can do this: provide examples of randomised evaluations of health-care policies, provide examples of compelling evidence from non-randomised evaluations of health-care policies and provide early examples of treatment evaluations If you are aware of examples relevant to any of the three categories described above, please send copies of them, identifying the key passages and providing a translation if the text is not in English, by post, facsimile or e-mail. Postal address: Bulletin of the World Health Organization Project, c/o James Lind Initiative, Summertown Pavilion, Middle Way, Oxford OX2 7LG, England. Fax: +44 1865 516 311. Your help will be acknowledged explicitly unless you instruct otherwise.
The Global Development Network (GDN) has undertaken a research project entitled ‘Promoting Innovative Programs from the Developing World: Towards Realizing the Health Millennium Development Goals in Africa and Asia’. The study involved 20 different health interventions in 20 emerging and developing countries. Each of the studies was carried out by local researchers mentored by an international team of 10 economists and 10 public health officials. The purpose was to use state-of-the-art technology to evaluate the impact of each of these interventions and, in particular, to determine how the more successful ones could be replicated or, scaled up. With the successful completion of the project, the research will be shared with a vast range of stakeholders in workshops around the world.
This conference on strengthening parliaments and governance in the developing world is the third in a series of annual conferences organised in association with the Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank Institute and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. The conference brings together ministers, senior parliamentarians, donors and experts to discuss topical issues affecting parliaments in the developing world. To find out more information, visit the website address provided here.
The Global Development Network (GDN) is now accepting submissions for the 2009 Annual Global Development Awards and Medals Competition for the Japanese Award for Most Innovative Development Project. A competitive grant programme administered by GDN, the competition provides an opportunity for organisations to expand their on-going field work in any development related project. Finalists are invited to attend the Annual Global Development Conference, held each year in a different country, to showcase their project proposals before an eminent jury for the final round. This year the Annual Conference will be held in Prague from January 16-18, 2010. The winning proposal will receive a cash award of US$30,000 and the runner-up organisation will receive US$5,000.
The 2009 International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) will bring together the leaders of urban health research, practice, side by side with community voices to frame these issues, provide clear insight, and offer direction and best practices toward healthy urbanisation. The Conference has three planned components. First, the Scientific Programme consists of eight broad tracks or themes in the field of health and urbanisation. Second, the Urban Health Champions Forum is intended for leaders of local and national governments and civil society and will review prevailing policies that affect investment in urban areas. Third, a Community Voices Forum will involve meetings in local informal settlements of Nairobi three weeks prior to the conference to obtain perspectives from the community on urban health.
You are invited to submit abstracts of chapters for a book titled Strategic Health Communication in Urban Contexts, which will be featured as part of the 8th International Conference on Urban Health later this year. The forthcoming book is designed to address issues of urbanization, local, national, regional, and global health, and strategic uses of communication in local urban contexts. The focus is on the triangular interplay among the three components of health, behaviour and strategic communication in urban contexts. Contributions can be based on research, theory, practice or experience. Send a 500-word abstract by 1 July 2009. Notifications of acceptance will be announced on July 15. Complete chapters of about 5,000 words, excluding references and tables, will be expected no later than 1 October 2009.
The Alliance HPSR and the Health Systems Financing Department (WHO) are launching a new programme of work that aims to explore and compare country-specific experiences in developing and implementing universal financial risk protection, with a focus on the factors that have helped or hindered the expansion of financial protection mechanisms. We are interested in learning both from positive and negative experiences. It is envisaged that the final product of this programme of country case-study work will be a book encompassing all of the case-studies, and highlighting cross-cutting policy lessons and issues that are applicable beyond the case-study countries. Research teams are encouraged to submit Expressions of Interest (EoI) by June 30th, 2009. These EoI will be technically reviewed. Research teams that submit the most promising EOI will be invited to a proposal development workshop, where applicants will work with technical advisers to develop proposals for 12 to 18 months of work. Researchers in low and middle income countries are eligible to apply to this call for proposals. See the website for more information
Though studies related to pricing, access to medicines and generic medicines do appear in various journals, a special issue covering all these topics is much needed at this time and would be helpful to nurture pharmaceutical policy debate. Southern Medical Review, a journal with a development focus, is calling for contributions across the following areas: access to medicines and the role of different stakeholders, access to medicines models in the developed world and their relevance (if any) to developing countries, research papers and commentaries based on WHO/HAI medicine pricing surveys and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Access to Medicines, the promotion of generic drugs, the political economy of the pharmaceutical industry and access to medicines. For further information visit the website address.