Your bi-monthly peek at what is happening behind the scenes in the field of global health, with trending news, upcoming events, funding opportunities and more! Read on to find out what researchers across all disciplines of global health research have been up to in recent months. We look forward to staying connected with you!
The region of the Americas has officially been declared free of measles by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as a result of a worldwide vaccination drive against measles that began in the 1980s. However, the disease continues to infect populations outside of the Americas, killing an estimated 314 people every day. A global concerted push is required to increase vaccination efforts in the hardest-hit regions (including Africa and Asia) in order to maintain the progress that has been made so far in eliminating the disease.
According to World Health Organization estimates, two thirds of the world’s population lacks access to basic radiology services, including x-rays, ultrasounds and CT scans. In low-resource settings, the lack of radiology services is due in part to a lack of supplies and trained medical personnel as well as non-medical conditions such as poor road infrastructures and an unstable supply of electricity. This can interfere with the monitoring of pregnancies, tuberculosis treatment and trauma-related injuries in a population where such issues tend to be widespread. This article provides an overview of the global radiology gap to call attention to what is now considered a serious threat to public health.
To mark World contraception day, which took place on September 20, the World Health Organization has compiled information regarding the history of the use of contraceptives, the WHO’s various approaches to the development of contraceptive methods, the value of contraceptive research and development and the question of youth and contraception. Although much progress has been made in the past 25 years, over 200 million women worldwide looking to prevent pregnancies remain without access to an effective method of contraception. Read on to discover what lessons can be learnt from the past and what the future holds for contraception.
World leaders at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly which took place on September 21, 2016 committed to the adoption of a broad, holistic approach to combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the sectors of human health, animal health and agriculture. According to H.E. Peter Thomson, President of the UN General Assembly, “Antimicrobial resistance threatens the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and requires a global response.” Countries called on the WHO, FAO, OIE, and development banks such as the World Bank for immediate action on this front, pledging to strengthen regulation of antimicrobials, improve knowledge and awareness, and promote best practices.
Although the country of Nigeria was set be declared polio-free by the World Health Organization in the next year, a recent emergence of the disease in the Northern state of Borno has indicated otherwise. It appears that the vaccination campaigns implemented in recent years were not successful in reaching all children due to dangerous political conditions and a strenuous geography. As a result, an immunization campaign is once again being put into action as health officials resort to active case finding throughout the once polio-endemic country.
When: November 11, 2016, 10 AM - 4 PM
Where: Montreal, Quebec
Together with the Ethics and Integrity Strategic Grouping, the Global Health Strategic Grouping has organized a full-day workshop on the ethical issues and challenges encountered in the conduct of global health research - featuring guest speakers, a panel and much more! We encourage all members of the global health community to join us for an interactive and enriching experience on November 11. As this event will also include a poster presentation session, we are currently welcoming poster abstracts describing an ethical challenge, question, or issue that you have encountered during the conduct of a global health research project or that you would like to explore.
When: October 27, 2016, 3-5 PM
Where: Montreal, Quebec
Join Dr. Jerome Kroll, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Medical School, for a discussion on the Somali civil war and its resulting effects on displaced Somalis from a transcultural psychiatric perspective. Questions concerning the re-adjusting of traditional practices to fit the cultural expectations of non-Western patients as well as carrying out the scientific approach in a culturally sensitive manner will also be touched upon. Although this event will be held at McGill, all are welcome to attend!
When: December 5-6, 2016
Where: HEC Montreal, Montreal, Quebec
This conference will focus on the economic conditions of seniors and the ways in which these interact with trends in population health, formal and informal healthcare services offered to seniors, and the general well-being of seniors. Longitudinal data from different countries will be presented in order to establish comparisons between different parts of the world. In addition, this conference aims to examine the means by which both applied and quantitative research can contribute to better understanding the health status of the elderly population.
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS: November 30, 2016
The Beyond Sciences Initiatives is proud to present an accessible conference covering a range of topics with an international scope, allowing for scholars to expand their knowledgebase and network with one another to further their research. Global health topics covered will include Mental Health, Infectious Diseases, Medical Practice and Women's Health, and abstract submissions in these areas are encouraged. BSI is also willing to provide funds to support the establishment of Internet and webinar connections in order to facilitate real-time access to the conference if needed.
The Université de Montréal and the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal will be hosting this year's M8 Alliance World Health Summit in Montreal. The theme, “Health and Healthcare Delivery in Pluralistic Societies,” will focus on the question of human diversity in the practice, education, research and public policy pertaining to health. Stay tuned for online registration!
When: June 28-30, 2017
Where: Delta Montreal, Montreal, Quebec
Convening in Montreal in the upcoming year, this conference will gather researchers, practitioners, policy makers and child advocates from across the world to share and discuss the latest research on child indicators and implications for policy and interventions, with subthemes including Physical and mental health, Poverty, deprivation, material well-being, and inequality, and Early childhood and adolescent development and education.
Intended to allow students and young professionals to prosper in the field of global health, this summit will provide attendees with numerous opportunities to connect, network, engage, learn, and be inspired. The event will correlate with the upcoming Fourth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, following with the theme of "Resilient and Responsive Health Systems for a Changing World."
This year, the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research is being held in Vancouver, Canada! This event aims to convene the global community to share and apply knowledge in order to strengthen health systems worldwide. Organized by the Canadian Society for International health (CSIS) on behalf of Health Systems Global (HSG), the theme for 2016 is “Resilient and responsive health systems for a changing world”.
The CIC 2016 conference will bring together experts from across Canada and around the world to share and learn about immunization research, programs and practice, and policy innovations. This will be an important venue for discussing the recurrence and emergence of infectious diseases that are posing challenges for public health at all levels, especially in light of recent occurrences of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks. The topic of special populations, including Canada’s Indigenous peoples, will be given particular attention during this conference.
The Global Health & Innovation Conference hosts more than 2,200 professionals and students from more than 55 countries and is recognized as one of the leading global health conferences. The 2-day conference, presented by the non-profit global health delivery organization Unite for Sight, is set to take place at Yale University. Topics discussed will touch on both the current state of global health as well as social entrepreneurship and innovation for development.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), AcademyHealth and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are collaborating to host this forum for discussing the science of dissemination and implementation in order to bridge the gap between evidence, practice and policy in health and medicine. This year’s theme, "Mapping the Complexity and Dynamism of the Field", focuses on the ways in which effective interventions can be implemented in a variety of clinical and community settings. Thematic tracks include Global Dissemination & Implementation and Promoting Health Equity and Eliminating Disparities.
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, founded in 1903, is the largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health. The ASTMH Annual Meeting will draw tropical medicine and global health professionals representing academia, government, non-profits, philanthropy, NGOs, industry, military and private practice.
These fellowships are awarded to highly qualified applicants in all areas of health research at the post-PhD degree or post-health professional degree stages in order to allow them to engage in health research either in Canada or abroad. The Priority Announcements for CIHR Research Priority Areas are also offering an additional source of funding for applications relevant to the following research areas: Clinical Nutrition, Drug Safety and Effectiveness, Gastroenterology, Kidney Disease, and Refugee Training Initiatives.
Financed by the Pathways Population Health Intervention Research (PHIR), this funding opportunity aims to develop a better understanding of how to design, implement and scale-up population health interventions targeted towards the First Nations, Inuit and Métis population in Canada to improve health and health equity. Applications must study interventions in one of the four areas of Suicide prevention, Obesity/Diabetes, Tuberculosis or Oral health in Indigenous populations at a national, provincial/territorial, or regional scale.
Global Grand Challenges offers grant opportunities to foster innovation in health and development funded partially or in whole by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The current call for proposals welcomes applications in the following four areas:
1) Accelerate Development of New Therapies for Childhood Cryptosporidium Infection
2) Assess Family Planning Needs, Preferences and Behaviors to Inform Innovations in Contraceptive Technologies
3) Design New Solutions to Data Integration for Malaria Elimination
4) Develop Novel Platforms to Accelerate Contraceptive Drug Discovery
This research initiative aims to improve national ability to monitor vaccine administration among under- and un-immunized populations in Canada, while identifying the structural barriers associated with lower immunization rates in certain demographics of the Canadian population to combat inequality in vaccine uptake. Relevant research areas include Children and youth and Women of reproductive age. In the First Nations, Inuit and Métis funding stream, applicants are given the opportunity to focus on indigenous populations and the challenges in achieving widespread immunization coverage in these marginalized groups.
Despite the fact that the link between suicidality and HIV/AIDS has been demonstrated numerous times, very little is known about the mechanisms that account for this connection, particularly in the region of sub-Saharan Africa. This study, undertaken in Mbarara, Uganda, aims to identify risk factors contributing to suicidal ideation and attempts among HIV-positive individuals. The results suggest that these individuals often bear the double-burden of HIV and suicidality and emphasize the need for interventions targeting certain clinical risk factors responsible for an increased vulnerability to suicidality among these patients.
This study aims to present the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors in the eastern Mediterranean region (comprised of 22 countries) as of 2013. The leading cause of death for the region is identified as ischaemic heart disease, having increased by 17.2% since 1990. The authors conclude that the political unrest and the so-called Arab uprisings have had and will continue to have a major impact on the region’s health and resources, giving rise to deteriorating health conditions in the countries most affected by these conflicts.
The authors perform a scoping review of publications relating to the state of oral health and access to oral health care of the refugee and asylum seeker population worldwide. Despite it being considered a global priority, a relatively small amount of data and information is readily available on this topic. For this reason, the study's stated aim is to shed light on the overall burden of oral diseases and their causes among this population and inspire future research in this field.
This study focuses on the role of mobile devices in doctor-patient communication as well as its global impact on various health outcomes by performing a meta-analysis on the use of telecommunication in healthcare. The authors conclude that the use of mobile-device technologies (namely phone calls and SMS text messaging) leads to a modest improvement in health outcomes on a global scale, and that more research on these technologies is required to further quantify this effect.
Ghai RR, Thurber MI, El Bakry A, Chapman CA, Goldberg TL
The over-diagnosing and over-treatment of malaria is a considerable issue in rural Uganda, where health clinics are often resource-limited. This study evaluates the accuracy of rapid diagnostics tests (RDTs) for malaria, which offer effective diagnostic capacity in resource-poor contexts by virtue of being fast, easy and inexpensive. The results of the study indicate that the RDTs are very effective in detecting cases of malaria (with the exception of non-falciparum malaria) when assessed relative to the gold standard methods of microscopy and PCR.
Although the positive outcomes of legislative bans on smoking in public areas have been well documented worldwide, a limited amount of information is available on the impacts of such bans on voluntary home smoking behavior. The authors perform a systematic review of studies that consider the impact of legislation-based public smoking bans on the exposure to second-hand smoke in private spaces. It is discovered that the enactment of smoking bans in public areas tends to encourage citizens to restrict smoking activities in private spaces as well, thus accounting for a decrease of the negative effects of second-hand smoke exposure in countries with existing public smoking legislation.
The translation and dissemination of knowledge stemming from global health research projects is often inadequate, failing to inform practice or adequately reflect the lived realities of the members of the participating communities. This paper investigates the use of participatory visual methodologies in global health research with children and youth facing global adversity as a means of effectively translating research into interventions through the incorporation of multiple aspects of their lived realities into the study design, exploring the lessons which emerge from this novel approach to global health research.
Chanthavilay P, Reinharz D, Mayxay M, Phongsavan K, Marsden DE, Moore L and White LJ
This study aims to determine the cost-effectiveness of screening strategies combined with a vaccination program for 10-year old girls for cervical prevention in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The vaccination program combined with the visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) strategy for screening is deemed the most attractive option in terms of efficacy and cost-effectiveness, with the data reflecting an associated cost of 2544 international dollars per DALY averted and a probability of cost-effectiveness of 73%.
Students' Corner
Welcome to the Student’s Corner! This space is dedicated to the research, publications, experiences and work of students of Québec Universities, and can also serve as a platform to publicize events and activities organized by students in the realm of global health. We welcome submissions from any students who would like to contribute and see their material posted in our upcoming issues! If you are interested, get in touch with us via the RRSPQ email linked at the top and bottom of the newsletter.
The Canada Graduate Scholarships Masters Awards aim to provide support and special recognition to Canadian students pursuing a Masters degree in a health-related field. These individuals are selected on the basis of their potential to contribute to Canada’s knowledge economy through future research endeavors. In addition, outstanding recipients may be eligible to receive the title of “Canada Graduate Scholarship to Honour Nelson Mandela”.
