DCPP Quarterly Newsletter May 07

May 1, 2007

Click on the links below to read the latest newsletter.

Disease Control Priorities Highlighted Around The World
New Feature Stories
New Fact Sheets
Launch of the DCPP Slide Library
DCPP in the News
Useful Links

Disease Control Priorities Highlighted Around The World

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. Since DCPP’s launch in April 2006, DCPP partners have continued to disseminate the “best health buys” message of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, 2nd edition (DCP2), at a variety of events worldwide.

February 2007 events:
The World Bank held a video conference in New Delhi, Dar-es-Salaam, and Washington, DC on "Cost-Effective and Evidence-Based Malaria Control" to support the new India Vector Borne Disease Control Project.

March 2007 events:
DCPP editors Sir George Alleyne and Anne Mills presented on cost-effectiveness and health systems at the 44th Health Ministers’ Conference in Arusha, Tanzania. The event was co-hosted by the United Republic of Tanzania and the East, Central, and Southern African Health Community with support from the Population Reference Bureau. Over 100 health professionals, including ministers of health, senior public health officials, program managers, and other decisionmakers from 10 countries, participated in prioritizing health interventions for the coming years.

PRB and the USAID-funded Africa’s Health in 2010 Project conducted a media workshop in conjunction with the Health Ministers’ Conference in Arusha, Tanzania. Eighteen journalists and their health ministry counterparts from 7 countries participated in an effort to build opportunities for information exchange between the media and health professionals and enhance the capacity for evidence-based health journalism.

The World Bank conducted a global course on "Accelerating Progress towards the Health MDGs" in Washington, DC with presentations from DCPP editor Mariam Claeson. The course incorporated main messages from DCP2 including the chapters on community nutrition, unintentional injuries, water and sanitation, and maternal and child health. Mid-level officials from government, NGOs, and donor organizations attended.

April 2007 events:
DCPP editors Sir George Alleyne and Phil Musgrove presented on priority setting and cost-effectiveness at the Priorities in International Health Seminar in Santiago, Chile. The seminar, conducted in Spanish, was a collaborative effort between the Pan American Health Organization, the Ministry of Health in Chile, the World Bank, and the Population Reference Bureau. A media roundtable for 20 journalists was included in the seminar to highlight important health priorities and to ensure clarity in coverage of the issues.

New Feature Stories

The Disease Control Priorities Project continues to commission seasoned science and health writers to highlight real-world examples of the global burden of disease, cost-effective interventions, policies, and programs. Since the last newsletter, five feature stories have been added to www.dcp2.org. They can be viewed by clicking the titles below:

Snuffing out Tobacco-Related Disease
by Beryl Lieff Benderly

The DCPP Web Site: A Major Asset for Dissemination
By Candice Byrne and Nina Pruyn

Will Africa Ever Get Rid of Malaria?
By Florence Machio

A Fresh Injection of Optimism: New funds and expanding partnerships spur global vaccination campaigns
By Margot Cohen

Catching Their Breathe: Communities take on Tuberculosis in Latin America
By Eliza Barclay

In addition, DCPP has asked special contributors to prepare short features related to their expertise:

In His Own Words: India Showcases DCPP Successes
By Rajiv Misra

Saving 150 Million Lives: The case for global tobacco control
By Prabhat Jha

Previous feature stories are archived and new feature stories are posted regularly; please visit http://www.dcp2.org/main/Home.html

New Fact Sheets

Fact sheets present brief summaries about the broad range of diseases, conditions, or issues addressed by the Disease Control Priorities Project. Since the last newsletter, the following fact sheets have been added to www.dcp2.org:

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals for Health

Noncommunicable Diseases on the Rise in East, Central, and Southern Africa

Why Contraception is a Best Buy

Maternal Deaths: An Unacceptable Lack of Progress

The Critical Role of District Hospitals: Providing Poor Communities with Timely, Cost-Effective Care

Primary Health Care: Key to Delivering Cost-Effective Interventions

Controlling Cancer in Developing Countries: Prevention and Treatment Stratagies Merit Further Study

Health Priority Setting in the Southern Cone: Action Needed on Lifestyle Risk-Factors

Marco prioritario de salud en el Cono Sur

VIH y Sida

Enfermedades no transmisibles

Desempeño del sistema de salud en los países en desarrollo

Launch of the DCPP Slide Library

We are pleased to announce the launch of the DCPP Custom Presentation feature! Similar to the popular Custom Book feature, DCPP Custom Presentations allows users to create their own PowerPoint presentation with graphics (and accompanying notes) from 30 DCP2 chapters. Users can simply select the slides in which they are interested, and add them to a downloadable presentation, including PowerPoint notes pages that explain the graphics.

DCPP in the News

Over the past three months, DCP2 has been in the news periodically as a reference. For example, a Washington Post editorial highlighted DCP2’s best buy on speed bumps related to high rates of road traffic injuries worldwide and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine’s high-speed crash.

In addition, the recent DCPP-affiliated events in Arusha, Tanzania, and Santiago, Chile, provided an opportunity for media involvement. At the East, Central, Southern Africa Health Community’s Health Ministers’ Conference, 14-16 March in Tanzania, DCPP co-sponsored a media workshop for journalists from seven countries. Each journalist produced stories for the conference in addition to those they wrote for their own newspapers. They wrote on topics ranging from maternal health and avian influenza to the human resources crisis and achieving the MDGs. DCPP editor, Sir George Alleyne, was quoted advocating for stronger leadership and greater health budgets, and DCPP editor Professor Anne Mills was quoted in the press on health systems development. Over 15 stories were published throughout the region. The health ministers’ press statement can be found on the news page of the DCPP Web site.

DCPP sponsored a media roundtable for 19 journalists from Santiago and the full participation of 3 journalists from the region at the health priorities seminar in Chile on 10-11 April 2007. Journalists from Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay reported on the steps their ministries of health are taking to use evidence in prioritizing cost-effective interventions in their countries. The press release for this seminar in English and Spanish can be found on the news page of the DCPP Web site.