This is a video by MSF taking a special look at Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon to escape the country’s civil war. It is necessary reminder of the urgency of what is currently the world’s largest refugee crisis.
The following report summarizes the results of a climate change survey sent out to the members of the APHA IH section. The section’s chair and co-chair, members Rose Schneider and Hala Azzam, compiled the results below.
According to the Lancet Commission’s 2010 report, Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change “global warming is the biggest threat to health in the current century.” Yet most of the public health workforce have not yet been trained to deal with the challenges of climate change. The situation is exacerbated in low and middle-income countries. Faced with limited resources to mitigate or adapt to the increased frequency of extreme weather events, these countries have little infrastructure capacity to deal with, or recover from, climate change related events.
In 2012, the APHA International Health Section Climate Change Working Group (IH CCWG) conducted a brief survey of its members. Questions revolved around the current activities, level of knowledge and interest in climate change as it pertains to the work members do in developing countries. The survey was administered online and had a response rate of about 12% (186/1600 IH members) with 82% of the respondents completing the survey.
Basic demographics results indicated that more than 60% of the respondents were female, and about 40% of the respondents were between the ages of 21-39, and 30% between the ages 40-59. The respondents came from different work environments, with the largest percentage working in academia (~40%) and in NGOS (~30%). About 90 % of the respondents held a graduate or postgraduate degree, and the majority lived in the U.S. Some respondents, however, lived in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Pacific islands, Europe and Central Asia.
When asked about their climate change knowledge and awareness, half of the respondents reported that climate change is very relevant to the international work they do, and about 30% answered somewhat relevant. When asked about climate events in the country/ies where they worked, about 70% indicated changes in rainfall patterns and severe weather events such as hail, storm and floods, and about half indicated an increase in the number of hot days or nights. Awareness of the impact of climate change was high, with about 70% reporting changes in food production, food price hikes, and decreased access to water. Nearly 50% reported awareness of increased population migration, increased malaria incidence at higher altitudes, and deaths due to severe heat. At the same time, 1/3 of respondents reported not knowing what adaptation or mitigation processes or systems exist in the countries where they work. When it came to their views on the five most important activities to address climate change in international health work, more than 40% identified water conservation, climate change adaptation planning, green technologies, research, and development of evidence based approaches.
The two most frequently identified barriers for respondents to address or to integrate climate change activities into their work were; limited political/institutional support and inadequate funding. In response to what kinds of support would help overcome barriers, about 70% reported needing information on how to integrate climate change into ongoing public health activities, and close to 60% expressed the need for training and awareness campaigns, and for tools specific to climate change activities, such as vulnerability assessments, epidemiologic mapping, community preparedness planning, and basic understanding of green technologies.
In conclusion, while 80% of the respondents identified climate change as being relevant to their international health work, less than 20% currently incorporate climate change approaches into their activities. Furthermore, only 1/3 anticipated incorporating climate change into their work in the future. Yet, respondents clearly identified water conservation, climate change adaptation planning, research and development of evidence-based approaches, as well as the use of green technologies, as important activities to be implemented in international health programs. Indeed when probed about what steps, they, as individuals, currently take to reduce their carbon footprint, 93%, an overwhelming majority, stated that they turned off unneeded lights, 86% recycled at home, and more than 65% used public transport/carpooled or walked, lowered the thermostat in winter, turned off electronics, and reduced their trash. When asked about what the IH section should do in climate change roughly 3/4 of the respondents indicated the need to be more active in advocacy and policy, and more than half indicated the need for sharing information (tools, lessons learned, a virtual library, etc.), and joint sessions with other APHA sections and working groups.
Resources
In response to the needs expressed by the respondents, we have compiled a brief key resources list that we hope will be useful to readers:
We thank the I.H. Section members for their participation in the survey.
Rose Schneider, RN, MPH Rschneider@jhu.edu
Hala Azzam, PhD, MPH, CPH Hazzam@coempower.com
IH Climate Change Working Group
The following is a series of videos (one on each chapter) on a new book recently released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Basically, the book looks at the global health accomplishments and challenges in Obama’s first term and makes recommendations for his second term. Based on the interview with Dr. Morrison, who wrote the introduction, it sounds like the book has a pro-administration tone, but it is sure to be an interesting read nonetheless. Following are the videos for each chapter (except for chapter 4, which for some reason is “private”).
Introduction
Chapter 1: Global Health Diplomacy
Chapter 2: HIV/AIDS
Chapter 3: Malaria
Chapter 5: Women’s Global Health
Chapter 6: Multilateral Partners
Chapter 7: Global Health Security
This is a guest post by Sarah M. Simpson.
Violence against women is a major health problem around the world and continues to be an important cause of morbidity and mortality among women. Women suffer violent deaths either directly or indirectly, and this violence is also can important cause of morbidities such as mental, physical, sexual and reproductive health outcomes and is also linked to important risk factors for poor health, such as alcohol and drug use, smoking and unsafe sex. The problem is so widespread that it has its own Millennium Development Goal 3 which seeks to “promote gender equality and empower women” along with Millennium Development Goal 5 which seeks to “improve maternal health”. However, in the light of several publicized acts of violence against women, this important issue is once again at the forefront of everyday discussion. Some key facts about violence against women from a United Nations factsheet:
In the wake of the world-wide Valentine’s Day One Billion Rising events calling people everywhere to unite and bring an end to violence against women, The Guardian’s “Global Development podcast” has recently released a podcast proceeding the United Nations Fifty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
In this podcast, deputy editor of Guardian global development Liz Ford speaks with Irene Khan, head of the International Development Law Organization; Korto Williams, country director of ActionAid Liberia; Andrew Long from the U.K. Foreign Office’s prevention of sexual violence in conflict initiative; and Lakshmi Puri, deputy executive director of U.N. Women, about current global efforts to stop violence against women.
Against the backdrop of these movements to unite people world-wide, all eyes will be on policymakers at this upcoming session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women to produce and deliver results abroad and even in the United States. Recently, two UN experts addressed the US State House of Representatives to approve the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) which lapsed in 2011. Overall, the impact of violence against women needs to continue to be researched and explored from a public health perspective.
Each year, the International Health (IH) Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA) recognizes outstanding contributions of its members through its Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in International Health, its Mid-Career Award in International Health, and the Gordon-Wyon Award for Community-Oriented Public Health, Epidemiology and Practice. The Section is now seeking nominations for deserving candidates for these three awards, to be presented at its Awards Ceremony at the APHA Annual Meeting in Boston, MA in November 2013.
The Lifetime Achievement Award in International Health was created by the IH Section to honor the visionaries and leaders in APHA who have shaped the direction of International Health. The evaluation criteria for the Lifetime Achievement Award include: (1) Quality/creativity/innovativeness of the individual’s contributions to the field of International Health; (2) The individual’s contributions to the development of APHA or the IH Section; (3) Application of the individual’s work to service delivery (as opposed to primarily theoretical value); (3) The individual’s contributions as a leader/visionary/role model; (4) The volunteerism/sacrifice associated with the individual’s contributions; and (5) Membership in APHA (preferably with primary affiliation with the IH Section), a State affiliate, or a national public health association that is a member of the World Federation of Public Health Associations. No self-nomination is allowed.
Prior winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award in International Health include Dory Storms, Tom Hall, Samir Banoob, William Reinke, Michael Latham, William Foege, Clarence Pearson, Stanley Foster, Joe Wray, Carl Taylor, Milton Roemer, Warren and Gretchen Berggren, John Wyon, Derrick Jelliffe, Tim Baker, Cicely Williams, Bud Prince, Veronica Elliott, Moye Freymann, Jeanne Newman, Jack Bryant, Richard Morrow, and Ray Martin.
The Mid-Career Award in International Health is intended to recognize outstanding young professionals in the IH Section. The evaluation criteria for the Mid-Career Award include: (1) The individual must have committed herself/himself to the promotion and development of primary health care in a cross-cultural setting over a period of 5-15 years [Primary health care is meant here to encompass a broad array of public health issues, including HIV/AIDS prevention and environmental health]; (2) The individual must have demonstrated creativity in expanding the concepts pertinent to the practice of public health with an international focus; and (3) Membership in APHA (preferably primary affiliation with the IH Section), a State affiliate, or a national public health association that is a member of the World Federation of Public Health Associations. No self-nomination is allowed.
Prior winners of the Mid-Career Award in International Health include Matt Anderson, Mini Murthy, Gopal Sankaran, Jean Capps, Tim Holtz, Kate Macintyre, Sarah Shannon, Adnan Hyder, Stephen Gloyd, Luis Tam, Marty Makinen, Colleen Conroy, Mary Ann Mercer, Irwin Shorr, Walter K. Patrick, Dory Storms, Dr. Clyde “Lanny” Smith and Mrs. Theresa Shaver.
The Gordon-Wyon Award for Community-Oriented Public Health, Epidemiology and Practice is intended to reward outstanding achievement in community-oriented public health epidemiology and practice. This award was established in 2006 by the IH Section. It is administered by the Community Based Primary Health Care Working Group. John Gordon and John Wyon were pioneers in this field, so encouraging and recognizing others in this field is one important way of honoring their memory. The evaluation criteria for this award include: (1) The candidate must have had a central role in an outstanding achievement in community-oriented public health and practice; (2) The candidate must have demonstrated creativity in expanding the concepts pertinent to the practice of community-oriented public health with an international focus; and (3) The candidate must have membership in APHA or one of its affiliates (either a State affiliate or a national public health association that is a member of the World Federation of Public Health Associations. No self-nomination is allowed.
Previous winners of the Gordon-Wyon Award for Community-Oriented Public Health, Epidemiology and Practice are Rajnikant Arole, Carl Taylor, Henry Perry, Bette Gebrian, Jaime Gofin, and Warren and Gretchen Berggren, and Tom Davis, Jr.
In addition, the Distinguished Section Service Award is intended to honor outstanding service to the IH Section. Award criteria are: (1) Dedication to the IH Section mission and goals as demonstrated by continuing exceptional contribution to its activities; (2) Serving on the section elective positions or chairing its committees with remarkable or unusual effort and achievements; (3) Distinguished achievement in the international health field with a remarkable career; (4) Excellence in leadership and strong ability for team work with peers in the IH Section and the APHA. Current membership in APHA is essential.
Nomination Process
Award nominations should include a detailed letter explaining why the individual nominated should receive the award, addressing the criteria for the specific award and the curriculum vitae of the nominee. Only nominations with required documentation will be considered for the awards. Nominations should be submitted by email to Gopal Sankaran (gsankaran@wcupa.edu), Chair, Awards Committee, International Heath Section.
Deadline for Nominations
Please submit the required documents by Monday, April 8, 2013.
IH CONNECT 