As the Third People’s Health Assembly (PHA) develops, it’s more and more obvious that global forces impact at a country level. Conversations about WHO reform, universal health coverage, and human resource constraints, among others, gave me an opportunity to reflect on how global forces shape issues at a national level. Some of these were raised […]
Category: Guest writers
Fran Baum blogs from the People’s Health Assembly
Day two of the People’s Health Assembly focused on social and physical environments that destroy or promote health. Brian Ashley, South Africa, spoke eloquently about the shape of the climate crisis and its impact on health. I spoke about the reasons why there is so little action on the social determinants of health equity despite […]
Ike Anya: Can public health hold it all together in the new fragmented English NHS?
Following the recent Health and Social Care Act, which profoundly changes the structure of the NHS in England, one of the concerns that persists is the potential fragmentation of services and the impact of this fragmentation on patient pathways and care. Under the old system, each Primary Care Trust had the clearly defined responsibility of […]
Annie Neo Parsons: Ensuring access to healthcare for all
Health systems around the world are designed for the rich, but our development goals, such as the millenium development goals, are focused on the poor. The solution? Reform our health systems so they work for the poor, in line with the Alma Ata message. Speaking at the opening of the 3rd People’s Health Assembly, organised […]
Fran Baum: Demanding health for all now
The Third People’s Health Assembly got off to a rousing start yesterday with a plenary session addressed by the South African Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, who spoke of the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on his country and also by Pat Anderson, chairperson of the Australian Lowitja Institute, who spoke passionately about the struggle […]
Desmond O’Neill: Aiming to lose
Working as a doctor in Ireland has many positive aspects, particularly a warm human ambience and a remarkable love of the spoken word. On the debit side of the linguistic largesse is a leaning to the elliptical and the discursive, and a generalised tendency to soften the hard blows of life. A prime example of […]
Seye Abimbola: How to improve the quality of primary health care in Nigeria
Health services in Nigeria mirror political organisation. The federal government is responsible for tertiary care, state governments are responsible for secondary care, and local government runs primary care. The financing of (but not the responsibility for) public health is tied to the flow of funds from the federation account. Funds are shared between levels of […]
Aser Garcia Rada: Undocumented migrants and access to healthcare
A recent Spanish law limiting access to healthcare for undocumented migrants is causing a controversy. From 1 September 2012 they will have access only to emergency, maternity, and child care. According to our minister of health, issues such as HIV or oncological treatments will be taken care of by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), something that has […]
Magdalena Kincaid: Teaching basic surgical skills in Palestine – hopes for the future
The basic surgical skills course (BSS) for Palestinian surgical trainees finished today. Throughout the two days of practical sessions it seemed that time acquired an extensile quality: the tasks completed in 48 hours on the Mount of Olives would usually fill a week. The intensity is not only due to the rigour of an arduous […]
Magdalena Kincaid: Surgical Teaching on the Mount of Olives – part 2
This morning we left the peaceful lutheran guesthouse in the grounds of the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) to start set-up for the first day of the basic surgical skills course (BSS) for Palestinian surgical trainees in the hospital. The morning sun was glaring and a haze lingered over distant views of the Dead Sea as […]