c/o HIFA "Help Shape Global Guidance for Rural & Remote Health"

Guidance on Evidence-Based Healthcare Strategies 
to Serve Rural & Remote Communities

Rural and remote communities are not peripheral — they are central to the fabric of our societies.

Through the Communities of Practice for Remote and Rural Health, in collaboration with Rural Wonca, The National Center for Rural Health Professions, Rural Coordination Centre of British Columbia, and Rural Doctors Network, we have developed a draft Guidance on Evidence-Based Healthcare Strategies to Serve Rural and Remote Communities.

Now, we are inviting the wider TUFH Network to help strengthen it.

This draft Guidance: 

• Brings a rural lens to global health systems 
• Focuses on access as the defining challenge in rural health 
• Addresses funding, workforce, infrastructure, culture, and equity 
• Recognizes socioeconomic overlays and preventable disease burdens 
• Highlights vulnerable groups, including Indigenous communities, women, the elderly, and people with Disabilities
• Draws on global case studies from Canada, Australia, South Africa, Thailand, Ethiopia, and beyond
• Proposes actionable, adaptable strategies grounded in evidence and expert consensus

Importantly, the paper intentionally shifts away from a deficit narrative toward one that recognizes rural strengths, resilience, and community-driven solutions.

We Need Your Input

We are seeking feedback that helps us ensure this Guidance is: 

• Globally relevant across diverse rural contexts 
• Practical and implementable 
• Inclusive of LMIC realities 
• Clear in its recommendations 
• Strengthened by lived experience and frontline practice

Through the consultation survey, we are specifically inviting your reflections on: 

• Clarity of definitions (e.g., rurality, generalist workforce, access)
• Gaps in evidence or missing priority issues 
• Feasibility of implementation strategies 
• Cultural responsiveness and community engagement 
• Additional case studies or models to include 
• Areas needing further research or clarification

Your expertise — whether as a policymaker, academic, practitioner, community leader, or advocate — is essential.

We request your input in any of the following forms by April 30th.

Specific Feedback Forms (Deadline for Feedback is April 30th)

Access Draft Paper 📑<https://thenetworktufh.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=742357d7350b0bf9f9591c8ab&id=2d170bf5cf&e=95c553a647>

1. If you have any suggestions on specific content, additional references to cite existing or new information, or other updates, please fill out this form:

Guidance Document - Content Body – Fill out form 📝<https://thenetworktufh.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=742357d7350b0bf9f9591c8ab&id=ff3084197e&e=95c553a647>

2. If you have any specific information that can be used to include solutions and successes that could better reflect rural realities for each of the document sections, please fill out this form:

Guidance on evidence-based healthcare strategies to serve rural and remote communities. – Fill out form 📝<https://thenetworktufh.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=742357d7350b0bf9f9591c8ab&id=392220cca9&e=95c553a647>

3. If you have specific lessons from regions that can be included in the Guidance Document, please fill out this form:

Guidance Document - Lessons Learned from Different Regions – Fill out form 📝
<https://thenetworktufh.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=742357d7350b0bf9f9591c8ab&id=de2ab21951&e=95c553a647>

4. If you have specific evidence that can be used to describe the relative contribution of patient factors and access factors in rural disease, please fill out this form:

Evidence-based relative contribution of patient and access factors for rural disease – Fill out form 📝<https://thenetworktufh.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=742357d7350b0bf9f9591c8ab&id=3d8527953c&e=95c553a647> 

Communities of Practice

Why This Matters

Health disparities in rural and remote communities are rarely about incidence alone. They are about access, equity, and systems design.

This Guidance aims to support: 

• Policymakers designing rural-responsive systems 
• Health workforce planners 
• Universities and training institutions 
• Community health leaders 
• Global partners advancing Universal Health Coverage

Join us at TUFH 2026 in Manila, Philippines
https://tufh2026.com/

We look forward to welcoming you for TUFH 2026! 

If you need assistance with registration or have any other questions, please contact -
secretariat AT thenetworktufh.org

Join The Network: Towards Unity For Health (TUFH): https://thenetworktufh.org/

You are receiving this e-mail from the Office of the Secretariat from The Network: Towards Unity For Health

Our mailing address is: The Network: Toward Unity for Health (TUFH) 970 Sproul Road Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

My source:  David Cawthorpe via HIFA -
HIFA profile: David Cawthorpe is Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary, Canada. His professional interests include: Human Development, Developmental Psychopathology, and Delivery of low bandwidth medical education curriculum. cawthord AT ucalgary.ca

‘Life & health’: overview of global health, climate crises, SDGs and Africa Agenda 2030

26 December, 2025 

Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA) proudly announces its Maiden ‘Life & Health’ Symposium, a landmark convening designed to inspire dialogue, innovation, and collective action around one of the most pressing issues of our time: “Overview of Global Health, Climate Crises, SDGs and Africa Agenda 2030.” This inaugural symposium represents AHOA’s commitment to shaping forward-looking conversations that connect health, environment, and sustainable development across Africa and beyond.

The world is experiencing an unprecedented convergence of health challenges and climate-related crises. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss are reshaping disease patterns, food systems, water security, and livelihoods. These realities disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, where fragile health systems and socioeconomic inequalities amplify vulnerability. The ‘Life & Health’ Symposium seeks to interrogate these realities and offer integrated, actionable pathways aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa Agenda 2030.

At the heart of the symposium is a bold premise: health is both a driver and an outcome of sustainable development. Achieving good health and well-being (SDG 3) is inseparable from progress on climate action (SDG 13), clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), zero hunger (SDG 2), sustainable cities (SDG 11), and reduced inequalities (SDG 10). By convening experts across disciplines, the symposium will explore how these interconnected goals can be pursued through coordinated policies, resilient systems, and inclusive partnerships.

The Maiden ‘Life & Health’ Symposium is designed as a multi-stakeholder platform, bringing together policymakers, health professionals, climate experts, development practitioners, civil society leaders, academics, youth advocates, and the private sector. Participants will engage in high-level discussions, evidence-based presentations, and solution-oriented exchanges that bridge science, policy, and practice. The symposium will also provide a space for emerging voices and community perspectives, ensuring that local realities inform global ambitions.

A key focus of the symposium is Africa’s Agenda 2030, which contextualizes global commitments within the continent’s development aspirations. Africa stands at a pivotal moment: with a rapidly growing youth population, expanding urban centres, and increasing climate exposure, the choices made today will define health and development outcomes for decades. The symposium will highlight opportunities to harness Africa’s demographic dividend, promote climate-resilient health systems, and foster innovation that aligns with the continent’s priorities.

Participants can expect rich thematic sessions addressing:

I. Global health trends and emerging risks in a changing climate;

II. Climate-sensitive diseases and the future of prevention and preparedness;

III. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the context of climate resilience;

IV. Policy coherence and governance for integrated SDG implementation;

V. Financing and partnerships for sustainable health and climate action; and

VI. Youth leadership and community engagement as catalysts for Agenda 2030.

Beyond knowledge exchange, the symposium is action-oriented. It aims to catalyze policy-relevant recommendations, foster cross-sector partnerships, and inspire practical initiatives that can be scaled across regions. Afrihealth Optonet Association envisions the symposium as a springboard for sustained collaboration, research, advocacy, and capacity-building that advance health equity and climate justice.

The ‘Life & Health’ Symposium also reflects AHOA’s broader mission to promote evidence-informed decision-making and civil society leadership in health and development. By creating a recurring platform for dialogue and learning through the 52 Sessions in the 2026 ‘Life & Health’ Dialogue Series, AHOA seeks to strengthen the role of civil society in shaping inclusive policies, amplifying marginalized voices, and holding stakeholders accountable to shared commitments.

As the world accelerates toward 2030, time is of the essence. The interlinked crises of health and climate demand urgency, innovation, and solidarity. AHOA’s Maiden ‘Life & Health’ Symposium offers a timely opportunity to rethink silos, align strategies, and recommit to a future where people and planet thrive together, a future that will always seek to ‘Leave No One Behind’.

Afrihealth Optonet Association warmly invites policymakers, practitioners, scholars, development partners, youth leaders, and all stakeholders committed to sustainable development to be part of this historic inaugural symposium, as well as partner with AHOA through the 2026 Dialogue Series. Together, we can deepen understanding, strengthen partnerships, and chart a resilient pathway toward better health outcomes, climate resilience, and the realization of the SDGs and Africa Agenda 2030.

Continued - with links (and my source):

https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/%E2%80%98life-health%E2%80%99-overview-global-health-climate-crises-sdgs-and-africa-agenda-2030

And - Happy New Year to All!

Julian Tudor-Hart 'The Inverse Care Law' - c/o The Lancet

On the bottom of my notes re. Giarchi and 'distance decay' I'd written:

'Inverse Care law - p.60. - Giarchi. "those who suffer more ill health are less likely to be assisted."

It made me wonder about the origin of this law having posted about it in 2020.

The Lancet has an editorial and an associated podcast:

50 years of the inverse care law. The Lancet, Volume 397, Issue 10276, 767. February 27, 2021.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00505-5/fulltext

'“The availability of good medical care tends to vary with the need for it in the population served. This inverse care law operates more completely where medical care is most exposed to market forces, and less so where such exposure is reduced.”

These understated opening lines of Julian Tudor Hart's paper, The Inverse Care Law, are as relevant now (50 years to the day since publication) as in 1971. The paper is one of the landmark publications in The Lancet's near 200-year history, and the resonance of Tudor Hart's definition of the inverse care law has global and timeless importance. Simply expressed, Tudor Hart observed that disadvantaged populations need more health care than advantaged populations, but receive less.

Tudor Hart's life and career took him from highly privileged beginnings in London and Cambridge to decades spent in the deprived and deeply socialist Welsh valleys. His experience and work has inspired a generation of influential health-care leaders including Andrew Haines, Allyson Pollock, Cesar Victora, and Graham Watt. Today's anniversary issue of The Lancet explores both the global reach of the inverse care law and primary care initiatives in deprived areas around the UK.

Although inequality in health and its many causes are widely understood, inequity in health-care service provision is enduring and fundamental: an intractable concept that lies at the heart of the inverse care law. The inverse care law is primarily about inequity (injustice) in health care that results in unfair social inequalities (imbalances) in health. Since the inverse care law was published, the UK's National Health Service (NHS) has strived to reduce inequity with mixed success. Notably, long-lasting progress was achieved through the 1970s resource allocation formula, which reduced geographical inequality in hospital and institutional expenditure. In the early 2000s, the NHS strengthened primary care provision in disadvantaged areas, leading to a temporary reduction in social inequality, although this progress has reversed following shifts in funding, a slowing of spending, and years of living with austerity.'

See also: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Tudor-Hart

https://www.chpi.org.uk/blog/julian-tudor-hart-and-the-essence-of-primary-care/

Africa's Nutrition Movement: Seizing the Window with Primary Health Care

Africa's mission to eliminate malnutrition is more critical than ever. Bubbling down the high level commitments to strategic programmable goals will be critical at primary health care and community levels.

The continent has made significant progress in recent years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for sustained efforts to address the complex issues surrounding malnutrition, particularly for women and children as we build traction to meet the sustainable development goals by 2030.

"The year 2025 will also be significant as it marks the end of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition. N4G Paris will serve as a multi-stakeholder summit, advocating for ambitious financial and political commitments and fostering dialogue among diverse actors from around the world, including governments, international organizations, research institutions, civil society organizations, philanthropies, private sector entities, and more." - #N4G

Connecting dots is a a key imperative as we build Africa's nutrition movement. One of them is viewing nutrition from a programmable health systems lens. Have we given this enough traction ?

"The N4G conference presents a crucial opportunity for Africa to gain traction on its mission to eliminate malnutrition. The conference aims to mobilize ambitious financial and political commitments, foster dialogue among diverse stakeholders, and put nutrition at the center of the sustainable development agenda." - United Nations SDGs Professional Support Group for Africa

One of the key lessons from COVID-19 is the importance of strengthening health systems, particularly at the primary healthcare level. The pandemic has exposed weaknesses in many health systems, highlighting the need for increased investment in health care infrastructure, workforce, and services which will ultimately impact on nutrition delivery at the base of the health system.

The upcoming Africa Primary Health Care Forum , scheduled for Abuja on July 14-15, 2025, will provide a platform for stakeholders to discuss the importance of primary health care(PHC) in achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and health security, as well addressing malnutrition in PHC systems. The forum will also explore the role of digital health, digitised workforce, partnerships and financing in strengthening primary healthcare systems and improving general health outcomes.

More details continued at: https://www.phc.africa/

Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly

WHO Note for Media, 26 May 2023

Read online:

https://www.who.int/news/item/26-05-2023-seventy-sixth-world-health-assembly---daily-update--26-may-2023

Text of note follows and a Comment from me below.

Gearing up for a historic UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage

Member States expressed alarm that millions of people cannot access life-saving and health-enhancing interventions. Out-of-pocket spending on health catastrophically affects over 1 billion people, pushing hundreds of millions of people into extreme poverty. The situation has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response, Member States agreed a resolution supporting preparations for the United Nations High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in September 2023. UHC means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need without financial hardship.

c/o World Health Assembly - media

In a transformative policy shift, Member States across high-, middle- and low-income countries expressed strong commitment to reorient their health systems based on primary health care (PHC) as a foundation for achieving health for all and reaching the furthest left behind first. About 90% of UHC interventions can be delivered using a PHC approach; from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care, potentially saving 60 million lives by 2030.

The Member States emphasized the importance of demonstrating the highest-level political commitment at the HLM in September with the aim of achieving resulting in a concise, action-oriented declaration for UHC.

[...]

COMMENT (NPW): I would add that quality of care is just as important as access and affordability. As we have discussed on HIFA, a 2018 Lancet paper estimated that 5-8 million deaths are caused by poor quality care every year (as we pointed out at the time, the true figure is probably much higher higher because it did not include care in the home or community before reaching a health facility). The Lancet paper did not estimate the number of deaths due to poor-quality primary versus secondary care. Quality of care is fundamentally dependent on the timely application of reliable healthcare information, and most deaths are probably (arguably, as we do not know the numbers) avoidable through the timely application of reliable healthcare information, even with minimal physical resources.

HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil AT hifa.org

HIFA - my source.

Africa Re-Imagined

 INDIVIDUAL

|

 INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

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GROUP

Dipo Faloyin Africa Is Not A Country Breaking Stereotypes of Modern Africa	Astrid Madimba, Chinny Ukata IT’S A CONTINENT
Socio-Economic and Cultural progress ...	Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò Against Decolonisation Taking African Agency Seriously

Owolade, T. (2022) Africa reimagined, FT Weekend, Books Life&Arts, 23-24 July, p.8.

Image 'IT'S A CONTINENT'

https://www.waterstones.com/book/its-a-continent/astrid-madimba/chinny-ukata/9781529376784

Learning for quality health services: A new thematic discussion on HIFA

The WHO Global Learning Laboratory (GLL) for Quality UHC and Healthcare Information For All (HIFA.org) are delighted to announce a new thematic discussion on HIFA: Learning for quality health services. The discussion starts on 28 June and will continue through to 20 August.

Quality of health services is critical to achieving universal health coverage (UHC): Between 5.7 and 8.4 million deaths are attributed to poor quality care each year in low- and middle-income countries, accounting for up to 15% of overall deaths in these countries. Improving access to health services must go hand in hand with improving the quality of these services. There is an urgent need to place quality at the centre of national-, district- and facility-level actions in order to progress towards UHC.

The discussion will explore in depth the following questions:

- What does quality of care mean to you, in your particular context? Why is it important to make the case for quality of care?

- From your experience, what might work best to enhance national commitment to quality of care? Have you seen any practical solutions that should be shared wider?

- From your experience, what are the biggest challenges for district health managers in tackling quality of care issues? Have you seen any practical solutions that should be shared wider?

- From your experience, what are the biggest challenges for improving quality of care at the facility level? Have you seen any practical solutions that should be shared wider?

Please forward this message to your contacts and networks and invite everyone to join us!

https://www.hifa.org/news/learning-quality-health-services-new-thematic-discussion-hifa

www.hifa.org/joinhifa

We have more than 60 HIFA members volunteering for this project. Also, we are introducing for the first time the concept of HIFA Catalysts, whose role is to stimulate comment and debate. We look forward to a rich discussion!

HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, neil AT hifa.org www.hifa.org

 <>

Mapping some points to Hodges' model:

individual
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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group

SAFETY cognitive access QUALITY of CARE quantity of CARE health literacy mental health	SAFETY faculty - facilities physical access QUANTITY of CARE quality of CARE distance rural : urban Between 5.7 and 8.4 million deaths are attributed to poor quality care each year ... accounting for up to 15% of overall deaths in these countries
PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS	low- and middle-income countries national commitment to quality of care Universal Health Coverage

Book: iv "Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights"

When I (really) was a student nurse, advocacy was an important facet of patient care. Not surprising in a Victorian asylum (Winwick Hospital). Institutional care was literally, the order of the day and night. New initiatives (individualised care) included personal clothing, not what could be found on the shelves of the linen room (and watch for the cockroaches too); but knowing the patients to the extent of exercising  the tailor's eye of knowing what would fit.

This was twenty years before the UK Human Rights Act 1998, and the focus too upon consent and mental capacity. In the 1990s - 2000s nurses  as advocates was questioned. Now while clearly not a return, there is a need for mental health nurses and future practitioners in particular to reassess this role, in partnership with patients and team members with lived experience. 

What about the book? Yes! Well, a reason for nurses to advocate, is to ensure patients and communities are aware of  their rights. So accustomed to the demand - supply equation and the politics of the healthcare market, we miss the deeper historical development of the 'rights holder' and 'duty bearer' (Figure 2.1, p.49).

individual
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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group

Rights holder (Awareness, Access to Information, Literacies)	Demand of Rights (Data)
Actions to Realize Rights (Social Justice?)	Duty bearer (Policy, Reporting, Accountability)

 

 

One more to follow... I think ...

Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights. (2020) Lawrence O. Gostin and Benjamin Mason Meier (Eds.), Oxford: OUP. ISBN: 9780197528303.

 

Book: iii "Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights"

When you've several books to get to, a steady stream of figures and tables can help give the illusion of a speed-read. There could be many such breaks in this book, but what there are are focused, informative and fit the COVID situation in being prime for take-away purposes. It is here that the educational, learning and teaching utility of the book is found, and in the references.

Reading this book I thought about the way healthcare is situated and how care-of global politics health is local, national, international and glocal. The global health workforce are joined in the books they read. Then they apply their learning in their respective corners of the world, seeking to put the patient, the person, the public at the center. As such Section 1 is essential reading for all health and social care professionals:

Introduction: Global Health & Human Rights

Lawrence O. Gostin & Benjamin Mason Meier
I. The Human Rights Movement: International Norms and Principles 

Chapter 1. The Birth and Development of Human Rights for Health
Benjamin Mason Meier, Thérèse Murphy & Lawrence O. Gostin

Chapter 2. Global Health Law: Legal Foundations for Social Justice in Public Health
Lawrence O. Gostin, Matiangai V. S. Sirleaf & Eric A. Friedman

Chapter 3. The Right to Health and Health-Related Human Rights
John Tobin & Damon Barrett

Chapter 4. The Rights-Based Approach to Health
Flavia Bustreo & Curtis F.J. Doebbler

individual
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humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group

"Given the integral link between global health and human rights, global health law necessarily works in synergy with human rights. Accordingly, global health law includes not only the scope of law for global health, but also a normative perspective, with global health law seeking to enable all people to realize the right to health (Magnusson, et al. 2017). This normative perspective is not uncommon in law: environmental law is concerned with protecting the environment, trade law is concerned with a free and fair system of trade, and human rights law is concerned with protecting and promoting rights. The particular force of global health law's normative perspective comes in how it is not confirmed to laws directly related to health, but rather has significant implications for a wide range of laws in other legal regimes, requiring a focus on health in all policies." p.59. Chapter 3. The Right to Health and Health-Related Human Rights John Tobin & Damon Barrett

 

More to follow...

Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights. (2020) Lawrence O. Gostin and Benjamin Mason Meier (Eds.), Oxford: OUP. ISBN: 9780197528303.

 

Book: ii "Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights"

Well I've finished it! Yes it is an empowering read. Even though still 'fresh' published in 2020 clearly events race ahead:

• 
  COVID-19 continued to assert its life-suspending and life-ending presence, which even now is ongoing;
• Global (geo-)politics continues its unpredictable dynamic across all continents;
• The oceans, atmosphere - biosphere no less, also await the outcomes of COP26 this year.

As the book closes with a critique of populism I think the volume is deserving of a revised edition - when the time comes. Until then, there is a great deal here. I looked back on the chapter on Global Health Law: Legal Foundations for Social Justice in Public Health. The UK news today made me wonder for everyone: what is social justice? From the BBC: [ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56924131 ]

"New laws that could leave flat owners facing bills for fire safety measures are "indefensible," say Grenfell Tower survivors and bereaved relatives.

The Fire Safety Bill is aimed at making homes safer following the 2017 blaze, in which 72 people died."

 Far from the global context I know, but the last chapter prompted the connection:

"The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have sought to incorporate state protections against abuse by business, establish a "Protect, Respect and Remedy" framework for corporate obligations, and facilitate accountability through greater access to effective remedies for those who are harmed." p.452.

I am guilty, as surely the vast majority of us are, of referring to 'human rights' without having much depth of knowledge. One book a legal professional and crusader does not make. But this text helps. There is an irony in the passage of time since publication, as you the reader have some extra pieces of the jig-saw to fit in. There really is hope!

The Afterword resonates loudly as if written yesterday. Calling for those involved in the struggle to self-care and tend to their resilience and the welfare of their fellow practitioners. The first lesson of first aid remains salutary and critical.

More to follow...

Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights. (2020) Lawrence O. Gostin and Benjamin Mason Meier (Eds.), Oxford: OUP. ISBN: 9780197528303.

Book: "Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights" i

Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights

This book would have been a timely and great read back in 1998 when my online career began. Of course, back then the global health and human rights environment we know today was incomplete; even as core challenges and barriers were a known and frustrating presence. In nursing theory, practice and management there was much policy and politics to also run its course. As policy and law continue to play out over the past two decades, the relevance of Hodges' model is also continually affirmed.

"Foundations .." is a dense read, but it is meant to be. There are two clues, one is on the cover especially if your work is in health, in a developed nation, but you have no experience of working in humanitarian crisis situations. Thankfully, or not, that is the case for the vast majority of us, but this text could persuade many to get involved. Many who might think of nursing, medicine, public health and other more obvious clinical pathways may realise there is another way

The other clue is how each chapter has a series of questions to check your reading and attention. I could not answer them all but I will hide behind the excuse that in providing the foundations I am busy laying bricks, timber, whatever materials are to hand. The book was published last year and COVID-19 is ongoing and recognised as a global event, but its full impact is not yet apparent. Whether this could justify a revised edition I'm not sure. There is much to add, but the same can be said of so many books now.

Nonetheless the book delivers, organised in four sections:

I. The Human Rights Movement: International Norms and Principles
II. Bringing Rights Home: Tools for Human Rights Implementation and Accountability
III. Contemporary Applications: Healthy People, Healthy Populations
IV. New Challenges: Human Rights to Advance Public Health in a Globalizing Era

From OUP, the quality [pb] is high as expected, with clear type and an appealing, if conventional layout. The book is pretty heavy, 254x178mm and over more than 467 pages. In the car the steering wheel is a welcome support (wanting the book placed higher).

A foreword by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus [@DrTedros] Director-General of the World Health Organization acknowledges the arrival of COVID and WHO's role as a catalyst in the global response. Dr Tedros concludes:

"'Health is a human right' must be more than just a slogan - it must be embedded in international law, national legislation, and health policies, a commitment to protecting and promoting the right to health for all people, in all countries, through global solidarity." p.xiv

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group

QUALITY, SUBJECTIVE	OBJECTIVE, QUANTITY
"Health is a human right"	"Health is a human right"

From the introduction and throughout the explanation of history is very welcome. The book readily qualifies as a foundational teaching text. The preface's intent to provide a holistic perspective on the field, is well achieved. There is a developmental pathway in the sections and chapters with references back to what was covered previously. This is helpful and in my reading drew attention to what still must be resolved.

More to follow ...

Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights. (2020) Lawrence O. Gostin and Benjamin Mason Meier (Eds.), Oxford: OUP. ISBN: 9780197528303.

 

Immersed in the Politics of Health: Nursing #IYNM2020

We tend to treat virtual reality as a creation of the late 20th century, one that is still waiting to find commercial maturity in the 21st. A dictionary, text book and most definitely a web-search will confirm the same.

Perhaps though every age has its VR? The horse, steam, telegraph, electricity have all challenged beliefs, convention, language, society and institutions. The vision of individuals demonstrating courage, invention, creativity and innovation to instill change, has and will always be 'political'.

The celebration of Florence Nightingale's life and achievements also invites acknowledgement of the many pioneers who founded and established nursing across the globe.

In this 21st Century there can be no doubt that Nursing is political. Florence Nightingale immersed herself in the political virtual reality of her day. Nightingale used data, statistics and visualisation to challenge and change health-related political reality. How ironic that so many cities and towns presently breathe the benefit of fresher air today.

Ready or not, we continue to witness the power of language, as nurses and carers who have lost their lives are described as 'heroes'.

Discussion, debate and argument will follow and resonate for months, if not years.

Nursing should and must continue to define, refine and press with all the professional force it can muster; to further the values and delivery of universal access to health information, health care and  improved health literacy and the welfare this can bring for all.

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group - population

	Florence Nightingale – € 1.35 VI Definitive Stamp

12.12.2019 International Universal Health Coverage Day

Every person—no matter who they are or where they live—should be able to get the quality health services they need without facing financial hardship. Three months after the historic UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage, join us on 12 December to tell leaders to Keep the Promise of health for all.

Ask your government leaders to Keep the Promise by sending a tweet or an advocacy letter.  A toolkit is available: https://universalhealthcoverageday.org/toolkit/

• Primary Hashtags: #HealthForAll #UHCDay
• Secondary Hashtag: #KeepThePromise
• Handles: @UN @UHC2030 @CSOs4UHC @WHO @UHC_Day

To learn about specific Regional Initiatives check out the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO/WHO) website:
https://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14856:universal-health-day&Itemid=42091&lang=en

My source:

GANM (Global Alliance for Nursing and Midwifery)
https://knowledge-gateway.org/ganm

Jordan: International Nursing Congress on “Innovative Avenues: Practice drives Education, Research, and Policy”

Dear Colleague,

Greetings from Jordan

We would like to invite your nursing and midwifery health care professionals in your organization at the upcoming International Nursing Congress on “Innovative Avenues: Practice drives Education, Research, and Policy” during October 16 – 17, 2018 under the patronage of HRH Princess Muna Al Hussein at Jordan University of Science & Technology (JUST), Irbid - Jordan.

The theme of the congress is "strengthening and investing in nursing and midwifery workforce to achieve the global health agenda including universal health coverage."

The congress brings together the world’s nursing and midwives leaders, practicing nurses and midwives, policy makers, scholars, and nursing and midwifery students to address national and international contemporary issues in nursing and midwifery practice, policy, education, health informatics and research. For more details, please have a glance at our webpage:

http://www.just.edu.jo/Conferences/INC/Pages/default.aspx

Please note that our organization is offering your people with maximum discount for early bird registration and if you are coming with a group of 5 or more members (colleagues/students).

Looking forward for your participation

Chair for Congress Scientific Committee
Laila Akhu-Zaheya, RN, PhD
Associate Professor/ Vice Dean
Adult Health Nursing Department
Faculty of Nursing/ WHO Collaborating Center for Nursing Development
Jordan University of Science and Technology
Irbid, 22110
lailanurse AT just.edu.jo
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My source:
The GANM is part of the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center.

The thoughts, opinions and views that are posted on the GANM do not reflect those of either Johns Hopkins University or WHO.

Please visit the GANM webpage at: http://knowledge-gateway.org/ganm/

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Posted in recall of a marvellous experience in Jordan in 2013. While there someone said I would one day visit Palestine ...

World Health Day 2018: Universal Health Coverage

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SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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Stamp	World Health Day 2018 Stamps
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WHO: World Health Day 2018

Description (UNSTAMPS)

"Today, at least half of the world’s people are unable to obtain essential health services. Many households are being pushed into poverty because they are forced to pay for health coverage out of their own pockets. This strain on the populace seriously undermines a country’s ability to develop socially and economically.
This is why Member States of the United Nations have pledged to provide universal health coverage for all people globally by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3.8). This means ensuring that all people have access to the health services they need. Countries have pledged to ensure that these services will be of sufficient quality to be effective and also that their people will not suffer financial hardship when paying for these services.
When this happens, people’s health will improve. Universal health coverage reduces poverty, creates jobs, drives economic growth for all, helps improve gender equality and can stop disease outbreaks turning into epidemics.
Each year, WHO offices, Member States, civil society and partners around the world observe the Organization’s signing of its Constitution and founding on 7 April, World Health Day. In 2018, WHO is dedicating World Health Day, its seventieth birthday, to universal health coverage: #HealthForAll.
The World Health Organization is delighted to be working with the United Nations Postal Administration to promote worldwide awareness and action to achieve health for everyone everywhere."