Call for papers

International Seminar on Social and Health Policies for Equity: Approaches and Strategies

London, United Kingdom, 2-4 November 2009

Organized by the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Health Equity and Policy in the Arab World,
the Social Research Center of the American University in Cairo, and University College London

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 1 July 2009.

 

With the widening gaps in health inequities between and within countries, international and national health planning communities have come to acknowledge that health inequities are part of long-term social, political and economic trends and are linked to the interplay of policies as well as historical events. They realize the need for intersectoral actions and a thorough evaluation and assessment of policies in all sectors and their impact on health, with particular emphasis on health of the most vulnerable groups. In response, many countries have renewed their commitment to the Alma Ata Declaration and to equity-oriented health and health policies.

Policies responding to persistent and continuously growing health inequities require addressing three main issues: the ethical underpinning of health equity policies, strategies for priority-setting, and health information systems.

Health equity implies a moral claim of unfairness and an assessment that this unfairness is avoidable. This raises an important question about the main ethical approaches that underlie equity-oriented health policies. A comparative investigation of the underlying ethical approaches for national health policies can provide insight into the countries’ commitment to health equity, and their priority setting strategies.

Priority setting is at the heart of health equity policies. By prioritizing problems, planners and researchers hope to direct resources to where they are most needed. Four main priority setting techniques/approaches have been discussed: targeting, the participatory approach, protection against the financial risks of ill health, and distributional health objectives. While the first two approaches have been extensively used for priority-setting, the latter two approaches have only recently been developed to address issues of health inequity.

Priority setting exercises require health information systems. These support the health decision-making process by documenting and tracking health and health inequities and by creating a platform for action and accountability. They can also provide insights into multisectoral approaches in planning and interventions to support the most vulnerable social groups. Different sources of information can be incorporated in these systems including vital registration, health centre or hospital records, non-health sector, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, civil society, private sector, etc., as well as situation analysis of health services. Many countries are currently developing their health information system, which poses an important question regarding the extent to which these health information systems can provide the knowledge base required to monitor and evaluate the country efforts toward achieving health equity.

Research on health policy strategies and approaches is relatively limited in the Arab countries. With increasing attention to equity-oriented health policy, there is an urgent need to address health approaches and strategies currently adopted and applied, and to determine their strengths and weaknesses.

In order to facilitate and maintain channels of communication among health related professionals, the seminar will bring together both regional and international scholars, researchers and practitioners from the Arab countries and other regions of the world. The seminar will attempt to:

• initiate and facilitate a dialogue and collaboration among researchers, policy makers and planners in the area of health inequity;
• exchange current knowledge on equity-oriented health policy approaches and strategies;
• develop and evaluate new approaches and methodologies in the area of priority-setting;
• develop and evaluate new approaches in building health information systems.

The IUSSP Scientific Panel on Health Equity and Policy in the Arab World invites researchers in the field to submit an abstract of their proposed paper (200 words maximum) OR if the author(s) wish, a full paper, which must be unpublished and fill out the online submission form by 1 July 2009

Applicants will be notified whether their proposed paper has been accepted by 15 September 2009.

If the paper is co-authored, submission should be made by the author who would attend the seminar and co-authors should be listed in the abstract.

In the case of acceptance on the basis of an abstract, the completed paper must be uploaded onto the IUSSP website by 15 October 2009. These drafts will be circulated among seminar participants before the meeting.

In addition to dissemination through posting on the IUSSP website, seminar organizers will explore possibilities for publishing the papers, after the seminar.

Abstracts must be submitted in English and the working language at the meeting will be English. Completed papers may be submitted either in English or in Arabic. Please read carefully the guidelines for authors of communications.

Current funding for the seminar is limited. Participants are therefore encouraged to seek their own funding to cover the cost of their participation in the seminar. Those who are applying for financial assistance from the IUSSP should indicate their need when they submit by ticking the appropriate box on the on-line submission form when submitting abstract.

For further information, please contact Amr el Sayed (hlthineq@aucegypt.edu) or Zeinab Khadr (zeinabk@aucegypt.edu).

Organizing Committee:
Zeinab Khadr (American University in Cairo, Egypt)
Michael Marmot (University College London, United Kingdom)
Hoda Rashad (American University in Cairo, Egypt)
Fran Baum (Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia)
Timothy G. Evans (WHO - Evidence & Information for Policy)
John Fox (UK) (University College London, United Kingdom)
Mohamed Eisa Eltahir Moukhyer (Ahfad University for Women, Omdurman, Sudan)
Abdesslam Boutayeb (University Mohamed Premier, Oujda, Morocco)