The World Health Organization’s approach to equity

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Amri
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Health Equity ◽  
Public Health Policy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Health Work ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Policy And Practice ◽  
Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO), as the most prominent global health institution as a specialized agency of the United Nations, has expressed concern for health equity as part of its mandate, “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health”. However, there is a lack of clarity around the WHO’s fundamental definition and conceptualization of equity. Through drawing on the WHO’s Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART) as an illustrative case, the aim is to determine how the WHO operationalizes equity in practice. Preliminary findings suggest there is no consistent understanding of what the goal of Urban HEART is. This research has direct implications for practice: not only can the findings be applied to other global health work that seeks to improve equity, but the WHO is planning to reinstate Urban HEART. As such, this research may be beneficial in guiding these plans. Further, the findings yield an important consideration for global and public health policy and practice more broadly: the need to clarify objectives around equity (e.g. because how equity is defined determines the work undertaken and the populations served).

Health Systems Stewardship, Governance, and Accountability: Issues of Public Health Ethics

2019 ◽  
pp. 114-126
Author(s):  
Michael J. DiStefano ◽  
Jennifer Prah Ruger
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Public Health Ethics ◽  
World Health ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Health Ethics ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Policy And Practice ◽  
Health Organization

This chapter argues that stewardship ought to be conceived as a particular form of governance that is the role of both governments and intergovernmental and extragovernmental bodies to carry out. Stewardship as ethically conscientious governance is grounded in an explicit normative commitment to the promotion of justice, including both consequentialist and deontological claims, as part of public health policy and practice. The justification of trade-offs and resolution of tensions among various objectives requires robust accountability mechanisms tied to ethical questions about defining the public good. This chapter describes a range of accountability mechanisms that can function for a variety of governmental and nongovernmental actors. It then explores issues of public health ethics regarding the ways in which specific health systems stewards—including states, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO)—are held accountable.

scholarly journals Scoping review of the World Health Organization’s underlying equity discourses: apparent ambiguities, inadequacy, and contradictions

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle M. Amri ◽  
Geneviève Jessiman-Perreault ◽  
Arjumand Siddiqi ◽  
Patricia O’Campo ◽  
Theresa Enright ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Equity ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
World Health ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Hand Search ◽  
Ovid Medline ◽  
Concept Of Health ◽  
Past Half Century ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Background and objective Given the heightened rhetorical prominence the World Health Organization has afforded to equity in the past half-century, it is important to better understand how equity has been referred to and its conceptual underpinning, which may have broader global implications. Eligibility criteria Articles were included if they met inclusion criteria — chiefly the explicit discussion of the WHO’s concept of health equity, for example in terms of conceptualization and/or definitions. Articles which mentioned health equity in the context of WHO’s programs, policies, and so on, but did not discuss its conceptualization or definition were excluded. Sources of evidence We focused on peer-reviewed literature by scanning Ovid MEDLINE and SCOPUS databases, and supplementing by hand-search. Results Results demonstrate the WHO has held — and continues to hold — ambiguous, inadequate, and contradictory views of equity that are rooted in different theories of social justice. Conclusions Moving forward, the WHO should revaluate its conceptualization of equity and normative position, and align its work with Amartya Sen’s Capabilities Approach, as it best encapsulates the broader views of the organization. Further empirical research is needed to assess the WHO interpretations and approaches to equity.

scholarly journals The Covid infodemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Hyland ◽  
Feng (Kevin) Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Medical Research ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Highly Cited

Abstract Covid-19, the greatest global health crisis for a century, brought a new immediacy and urgency to international bio-medical research. The pandemic generated intense competition to produce a vaccine and contain the virus, creating what the World Health Organization referred to as an ‘infodemic’ of published output. In this frantic atmosphere, researchers were keen to get their research noticed. In this paper, we explore whether this enthusiasm influenced the rhetorical presentation of research and encouraged scientists to “sell” their studies. Examining a corpus of the most highly cited SCI articles on the virus published in the first seven months of 2020, we explore authors’ use of hyperbolic and promotional language to boost aspects of their research. Our results show a significant increase in hype to stress certainty, contribution, novelty and potential, especially regarding research methods, outcomes and primacy. Our study sheds light on scientific persuasion at a time of intense social anxiety.

scholarly journals Global Governance and the WHO’s Mandate Post-COVID-19 Crisis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Vilbert
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
World Health ◽  
First Year ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Democratic Principle ◽  
The World ◽  
Distribution Of Power ◽  
Health Organization

The COVID-19 has renovated the debate about global health governance. A number of scholars have proposed that the World Health Organization should assume the position of a central coordinator with hierarchical powers, demanding nation-states to “share their sovereignty”. This article presents four main objections to this project. First, when international institutions receive leverage, they use to impose “one-size-fits-all” policies, which conflicts with the characteristic heterogeny across countries. Second, geopolitical questions and the distribution of power in multilateral institutions put developing countries in a position of vulnerability within a hierarchical order. Third, the risk of crowding out parallel initiatives, especially from non-state actors. Fourth, decisions about health can have a major impact on countries, which may thwart the internal democratic principle. A Pareto improvement would be possible by strengthening the WHO’s operational capacity and its ability to issue technical guidance and coordinate with countries. To test this hypothesis, this study analyses the possible influence of the WHO’s guidance in the first year of the coronavirus health crisis, from January 2020 to January 2021, in 37 countries reported in the World Values Survey Wave 7 (2017-2020). The OLS regression performed shows a statistically significant negative relationship between the trust in the WHO, assumed as a proxy for the level of the organization's penetration, and the number of cases of COVID-19 (per million people) in the countries of the sample. These findings reinforce the hypothesis that there is a valid case for the countries to strengthen the WHO’s mandate post-COVID-19, but they should enhance the operations of provision of reliable information and support. Nation-states, in particular the developing ones, should eschew the temptation to create a hierarchical global health structure, which may not only fail due to countries’ asymmetries but is likely to create losers in the process.

The Work of Patient Advocacy

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duana Fullwiley
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Sickle Cell ◽  
Patient Advocacy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
The World ◽  
Patient Advocates ◽  
Umbrella Organization ◽  
Health Organization

This chapter further explores issues of patients' tenacity to shape science, through advocacy on an international level, and investigates the ways that making a disease public in Africa often entails locating it within discourses of humanitarian “crisis,” emergency, and global health prioritization. In this way, tireless patient advocates of African origin living in France created the sickle cell disease umbrella organization of the International Organization for the Fight against Sickle Cell (OILD), which succeeded in getting sickle cell anemia the attention of the World Health Organization and the United Nations in 2008. The OILD's strategy of making sickle cell visible to these multilateral institutions consisted of linking the disease to other pressing global health problems for development through means that often deployed uncertainty as “data.”

scholarly journals PRESIDENTIAL SYMPOSIUM: EDUCATION NETWORKS: STRENGTHENING GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS THROUGH CONNECTIVITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S421-S422
Author(s):  
Judith L Howe ◽  
Kathryn Hyer
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Education ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Scientific Meeting ◽  
World Health ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract The AGHE Presidential Symposium, related to the theme of the annual scientific meeting, underscores the importance of networks, collaborations and partnerships in advancing education in gerontology and geriatrics. AGHE has been at the forefront of many innovative programs since it was founded in 1974, contributing to the growth of the field and the recognition of education as one pillar of the field of gerontology and geriatrics, along with research, policy and practice. This symposium highlights three ongoing initiatives that promote connections and collaborations. The first paper discusses the Age-Friendly University (AFU) network which is made of institutions around the globe who have committed themselves to becoming more age-friendly in their programs and policies. AGHE endorses the AFU principles and invites its members and affiliates to call upon their institutions become part of this pioneering initiative. The AFU initiative is one of several international activities that AGHE, global leaders in education on aging, has engaged in. The second paper describes international networking activities such as collaborations with international organizations including the World Health Organization and connecting international and US students. In the third paper, initiatives to connect disciplines and professions through competency-based education and curricula are discussed. For instance, the Gerontology Competencies for Undergraduate and Graduate Education and the Program of Merit promote competency-based gerontology education across disciplines and professions.

Participation in the World Health Organization

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 261-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Solomon ◽  
Claudia Nannini
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Collaborative Efforts

Participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) is a multifaceted matter and should be understood as not only referring to the governance of WHO, but also to its scientific and technical work as well as its collaborative efforts towards advancing global public health more generally. The article is concerned, in particular, with the legal and political framework surrounding attendance and participation of states and various entities in the governing bodies of the Organization, at the global and regional level. It shows that participation in the governance of WHO is still today a domain reserved to the determination of its Member States. At the same time, solutions have been found and continued efforts are necessary to take into account geopolitical considerations and to ensure a meaningful and inclusive participation of all relevant actors in global health discussions.

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