How to build a new global health framework
Georgetown University health and law experts offer specific steps for creating a new global health system
2015-05-07
(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON -- Can a true, robust global health framework be created to help prevent tragedies like Ebola while at the same time allow countries to meet everyday health needs?
Georgetown University global health and law experts say it can be done, and in a special issue of "The Lancet" focusing on global health security, they propose specific priorities to transform a fragmented health system into a "purposeful, organized" framework with national health systems at its foundation and an empowered World Health Organization at its apex.
"The Ebola epidemic in west Africa raised the critical question of who is in charge," says Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, faculty director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He and his O'Neill Institute colleague, Eric A. Friedman, JD, published an analysis of global health security today in The Lancet ("A retrospective and prospective analysis of the west African Ebola virus disease epidemic: robust national health systems at the foundation and an empowered WHO at the apex.")
"The world is ill-prepared for the next epidemic," Gostin says. "The need for advance funding, planning and coordination from the national health system up to WHO is at the heart of preparedness, not only for epidemic disease, but also naturally occurring disasters such as the crisis precipitated by the Nepal earthquake."
In their review, Gostin and Friedman offer a retrospective analysis of the recent Ebola outbreak and the "profound harms posed by fragile national health systems."
In creating a new framework, the authors say, "The scope of the reforms should address failures in the Ebola response, and entrenched weaknesses that enabled the epidemic to reach its heights."
They propose a new global health framework that has national health systems as its foundation and an empowered WHO as the "global health leader envisaged at its creation."
To reach the goal of having an empowered WHO to lead a global health framework, Gostin and Friedman outline priorities for reform:
Funding: commensurate with global mandate under WHO Director-General's control,
Technical excellence: diverse staff with multisectoral capabilities,
Operational capacities: rapid deployment of economic and human resources,
Normative standards: setting priorities and ensuring compliance,
Regional offices: regional knowledge and consistency with headquarters, and
Engaging non-state parties: harnessing the potential of civil society.
Gostin and Friedman say another critical component to a global health framework are key stakeholders such as the United Nations, The World Bank and NGOs. "In a well functioning global health system, all parties would perform functions suited to their mandate, working cooperatively, and supporting national ownership."
In addition, the authors point out the need for a strong legal framework to enforce international health regulations: "International law and national implementing legislation can be powerful means for a more effective global health system," Gostin and Friedman write.
Another key component to a global health framework is to shore up the national health capacities in preparation for a crisis that would better ensure health security, regionally and globally.
"Planning for rapid mobilization should be combined with strengthening health systems to build country capacity," they say and propose reforms including a global health workforce reserve, and emergency contingency fund, a pandemic emergency facility (like that suggested by The World Bank) and an international health system fund.
"Action now on WHO and other reforms to the global health system is crucial, before the political moment passes," Gostin and Friedman conclude. "These reforms would not only keep populations secure against pandemic threats, but would also ensure health and safety for all needs through rights-based universal health coverage. This is a global health framework that is achievable in the aftermath of a tragic epidemic that needlessly took 10,000 lives in one of the world's poorest regions."
INFORMATION:
About the O'Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law:
The generous philanthropy of Linda and Timothy O'Neill established the O'Neill Institute in 2007 to respond to the need for innovative new solutions to the most pressing national and international health concerns. Housed at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C., the O'Neill Institute reflects the importance of public and private law in health policy analysis. The O'Neill Institute draws upon the University's considerable intellectual resources, including the School of Nursing & Health Studies, the School of Medicine, the McCourt School of Public Policy, and the Kennedy Institute.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2015-05-07
The west African Ebola epidemic has rekindled interest in global health security, but it has also highlighted a troubling lack of political commitment to public health, and it is far from clear whether the crisis will be enough to rejuvenate global health security, say leading global health experts writing in The Lancet.
Through a series of essays [1], the review, which is published as part of a special issue on global health security, explores different perspectives on the wider lessons that can be drawn from the outbreak, including how it has demonstrated the importance ...
2015-05-07
Your genes may influence how sensitive you are to emotional information, according to new research by a UBC neuroscientist. The study, recently published in The Journal of Neuroscience, found that carriers of a certain genetic variation perceived positive and negative images more vividly, and had heightened activity in certain brain regions.
"People really do see the world differently," says lead author Rebecca Todd, a professor in UBC's Department of Psychology. "For people with this gene variation, the emotionally relevant things in the world stand out much more."
The ...
2015-05-07
For faster, longer-lasting water filters, some scientists are looking to graphene --thin, strong sheets of carbon -- to serve as ultrathin membranes, filtering out contaminants to quickly purify high volumes of water.
Graphene's unique properties make it a potentially ideal membrane for water filtration or desalination. But there's been one main drawback to its wider use: Making membranes in one-atom-thick layers of graphene is a meticulous process that can tear the thin material -- creating defects through which contaminants can leak.
Now engineers at MIT, Oak Ridge ...
2015-05-07
BOULDER--New research has identified correlations between weather conditions and the occurrence of West Nile virus disease in the United States, raising the possibility of being able to better predict outbreaks.
The study, by researchers with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), finds strong correlations across much of the country between an increased occurrence of West Nile virus disease and above average temperatures in the preceding year. The scientists also find that precipitation influences ...
2015-05-07
Latin American women in Los Angeles County are twice as likely as white women to contract cervical cancer, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and are significantly less likely to be educated about the causes of the disease or to be screened for it.
That needs to change, say USC researchers, who are finding ways to make it happen.
"Latinas are the ones most at risk and yet health communication campaigns still essentially target white women," said Sheila Murphy, professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Murphy ...
2015-05-07
Researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute have uncovered a new mechanism for the regulation of blood pressure. Published in Molecular Cell, the study links events at the single-cell level to a system-level effect, showing that blood pressure can drop dramatically if the protein ERAP1 is released from cells and enters the blood stream.
Because high blood pressure is a primary risk factor for stroke, heart disease, and diabetes, understanding how our bodies naturally regulate blood pressure is essential for developing treatments that help keep it at normal levels. ...
2015-05-07
A study, published today in Cell, demonstrates the power of organoids to capture, in three dimensions, the multiple mutations that occur in tumours. Organoids, small clusters of cells that accurately mimic the behaviour of human tissue, can be used to test cancer drugs and, eventually, to identify effective personalised treatments for patients.
Until now, cancer drug screening has primarily been carried out using two-dimensional cell lines grown in dishes, or in mouse models. Organoids, which more closely resemble human tumours than cell lines, and are less time and ...
2015-05-07
Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Shiley Eye Institute have identified the molecular "glue" that builds the brain connections that keep visual images clear and still, even as objects or your eyes move. Using mouse models, the researchers demonstrate that image stabilization depends upon two proteins, Contactin-4 and amyloid precursor protein, binding during embryonic development. The study is published May 7 by Neuron.
"In the visual system, precise connections between your eyes and brain help you see specific things and make sure ...
2015-05-07
In a large prospective study published online in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition*, researchers looked at the association between nut consumption and risk of colorectal cancer among 75,680 women in the Nurses' Health Study, with no previous history of cancer.
Women who consumed a one-ounce serving of nuts, including tree nuts (such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts), two or more times per week had a 13% lower risk of colorectal cancer (RR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.72-1.05; P=0.06) compared to those ...
2015-05-07
On 9 May we celebrate Europe Day. On this 65th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration 85% of Flemish adolescents and 80% of the adults feel European. 62% of the respondents also feel actively involved in what happens in the European Union. That is the conclusion of a study by the KU Leuven Centre for Political Research.
"I consider myself an EU citizen" and "I am proud to be living in Europe". These are just some of the statements that Soetkin Verhaegen presented to almost 3600 fifteen-year-olds and their parents (of whom over 4300 participated). She found that a surprisingly ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] How to build a new global health framework
Georgetown University health and law experts offer specific steps for creating a new global health system
