DCPP - Inaugural Newsletter

 

September 29, 2006

 

Issue Number: 1 September 29, 2006

Click on the links below to read the latest newsletter.

• Disease Control Priorities Project: An Essential Global Health Resource
• Global Launch, and Dissemination Highlights
• Feature Stories
• Impact on Policy
• Topical Fact Sheets
• Partners' Council
• Did You Know...

 

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Disease Control Priorities Project: An Essential Global Health Resource

The Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP) is an ongoing effort to assess disease control priorities and produce evidence-based analysis and resource materials to inform health policymaking in developing countries. DCPP recently released the following three volumes that provide technical resources which can assist developing countries in improving their health systems and ultimately, the health of their people:

• The second edition of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries (DCP2) includes updated information about the global burden of diseases brought about by tobacco, alcohol, psychiatric disorders, and injury, which account for an increasing proportion of deaths. DCP2 highlights cost-effective interventions based on careful analysis of health systems, the costs of disease burden, treatment, and prevention for a comprehensive range of diseases and conditions. 
• A companion volume, Priorities in Health , synthesizes DCP2 main messages into a plain language reference guide for policymakers. Priorities in Health is available in seven languages.
• Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors (GBD) , provides a snapshot of health conditions of mankind at the dawn of the 21st century. GBD is a single source of up-to-date data on the global burden of disease, as well as the underlying methodologies for the cost-effectiveness calculations and conclusions presented in DCP2.

These volumes, along with a companion Web site provide a solid foundation of evidence and offer tools to benchmark resource allocations, inform policy choices, and guide implementation of new or refined programs and practices.

Visitors to www.dcp2.org have full and free access to these volumes, including the ability to: select and arrange chapters into a "custom book" and download for printing and distribution; download detailed burden of disease data files; and compare cost-effective interventions.  The site also features a continually expanding collection of fact sheets, commentaries by global health experts, and related research.

DCPP is a collaborative effort of the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the Population Reference Bureau, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

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Global Launch, and Dissemination Highlights

In April 2006, in Beijing, China, the Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP), in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineers, and the Inter-Academy Medical Panel (IAMP), kicked off the global release of three landmark books: Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, second edition; Priorities in Health; and Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors.  The Beijing event brought together over 320 senior policymakers, international health experts, journalists, and scientists from 49 countries to discuss a broad range of topics addressed by DCPP, including tobacco and health, the changing burden of disease in China and globally, traffic injuries, mental health, avian influenza, HIV/AIDS, and strengthening health systems.

Additionally, DCPP speakers have presented at a series of regional launch events including: nine pre-launch policy and media briefings in the U.S. Brazil, Mexico, Senegal, and Chile; the University of Toronto’s “Crossroads in Global Health” meeting from April 19 to 20; and the BioVision Conference in Alexandria, Egypt from April 26 to 29. These events have been very well-attended and well-received, reaching close to 1,500 policymakers, academics, public health professionals, scientists, journalists, and students.

 

Since the global launch, representatives of DCPP have:

• Held a well-attended Congressional Briefing in DC;
• Presented at the very successful World Health Assembly seminar in Geneva;
• Delivered a panel presentation at the Global Health Council annual meeting in DC;
• Conducted a Policy Briefing in Stockholm;
• Given keynote addresses in Rome at the World Rotavirus Conference, and in Lisbon at the Lincei Academy;
• Participated in the India colloquium at the National Institutes of Health with Sir Richard Peto; and
• Organized a conference with over 100 health policy and program professionals in collaboration with the East, Central, Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA) in Arusha; and
• Briefed over 350 journalists on DCPP key messages through 13 press briefings and roundtables in 11 countries.

Up to 20 additional events are expected to take place by the end of calendar year 2006.

Have you made a presentation featuring DCPP messages or materials?   Please email us the details!

 

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Feature Stories

The Disease Control Priorities Project commissioned seasoned science and health writers to highlight real-world examples of the global burden of disease, cost-effective interventions, and health systems and financing.   The first 5 articles in the series can be viewed by clicking a title below:

 

Finding the Best Health Buys:  Want to Figure Out Which Treatments Do the Most?  Cost-Effectiveness Measures Show How  by Beryl Lieff Benderly

Lucky to Survive:  Mothers Worldwide Suffer from Inadequate Health Services  by Barbara Crossette

Halting the Global Epidemic of Neonatal Death and Malnutrition  by Barbara Crossette

Disparities in Health:  Inequities Create Great Risks for Poor, Adolescents, and Women in Developing Countries  by Barbara Crossette

Taking Prosperity to Heart:  Rising Cardiovascular Disease Rates Accompany Economic Development Around the World, but Cost-Effective Prevention and Treatment Can Save Countless Lives  by Beryl Lieff Benderly

New feature stories are posted monthly; please visit http://www.dcp2.org/main/Home.html

 

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Impact on Policy

The impact of the Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP) in leveraging policy discussions and even policy change is already evident. Significant examples include:

• A July 2006 workshop in Bangalore discussed the findings of a DCPP India-specific report that is eliciting major interest from the Government of India, and is very likely to inform major resource allocation decisions in the health sector expected in 2007;
• The Government of South Africa is reported to have changed its newborn health care policy as a partial result of the newborn chapter of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, second edition (DCP2) that was later published in Lancet; and
• In Kenya, following a series of media articles and broadcasts on tobacco issues sparked by the DCP2 media launch that highlighted tobacco’s contribution to the growing non-communicable disease burden in the region, the Ministry of Health signed a legal notice (Public Act) banning smoking in public places.  The legal notice also places new restrictions on advertising tobacco products as well as their importation into the country.

Email us at info@dcp2.org to let us know how you have used information or recommendations from the Disease Control Priorities Project.

 

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Topical Fact Sheets

These fact sheets present brief summaries about the broad range of diseases, conditions, or issues addressed by the Disease Control Priorities Project.  Click on the title to view or download a pdf of a fact sheet.

Investing in Global Health

Improving Quality of Clinical Care

Mental and Neurological Disorders

Child Health

Noncommunicable Diseases

Investing in Global Health: A Spotlight on the Middle East and North Africa

Health System Performance in Developing Countries

Tuberculosis

Cardiovascular Disease

Adolescent Health

Risk Factors

Infectious Diseases

Newborn Health

Injuries and Violence

HIV and AIDS

Malaria

Financing Health Systems

Tobacco Addiction

Burden of Disease in China in 2001

New fact sheets are added each month.

Please send an email to info@dcp2.org to let us know how you've used these fact sheets--presentations? speechwriting? policy briefs? other circumstances? 

 

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Partners' Council

The Communicating Health Priorities (CHP) project, financed at the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has established the Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP) Partners’ Council to assist in the dissemination of DCPP main messages.  Members of the Partners’ Council include representatives from the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the Population Reference Bureau.

The Partners’ Council has three, overlapping main objectives:

• Provide a means to catalyze action based on DCPP main messages (policy change, changes in resource allocation, externally-financed programs or projects, etc.) in developing countries;
• Serve as a forum to facilitate the dissemination activities of CHP, e.g., by coordinating contributions at CHP-related events, and assist PRB to identify new fora for dissemination; and
• Replace the former DCPP Dissemination Committee and complement the Media Relations Committee of CHP.

To receive minutes of the Partners’ Council meeting, please send an email to info@dcp2.org.

 

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Did You Know...

...You can easily create and download a free custom book?  Select and arrange in your preferred order chapters from Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, second edition, and Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors, personalize your book cover, and download. 

...You can ask a question of an internationally recognized expert in global health?  This month, Dean T. Jamison, Senior Editor of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, second edtion, is pleased to answer questions about the history of the Disease Control Priorities Project, including the scope of the subject areas covered, and the methodological foundation underlying the burden of disease estimates and cost-effective analyses.  In addition, Dr. Jamison will respond to questions about the main messages of the effort, including intervention selection and neglected opportunities where investment of modest sums might have a positive impact on global health.  Submit your question now.

...You can view and download extensive burden of disease data files in multiple formats?  These data are invaluable in preparing presentations, reports, or information briefs.