Infectious disease clinics of North America
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Infect. Dis. Clin. North Am. · Sep 2011
ReviewGlobal health in the UK government and university sector.
In this article, the authors review recent global health activities in the United Kingdom by key organisations in several defined areas:- UK government (international aid and global health strategy); UK research funding agencies (overseas research units); non-governmental organisations; UK universities and hospitals and academic/clinical international partnerships;professional societies; UK undergraduate and postgraduate training opportunities in global health; and opportunities for international medical graduates.
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Infect. Dis. Clin. North Am. · Sep 2011
Global health: the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health: vision and mission, programs, and accomplishments.
The Fogarty International Center (FIC) of the US National Institutes of Health has supported long-term training and research for more than 3600 future leaders in science and public health from low-income and middle-income countries; tens of thousands more persons have received short-term training. More than 23 extramural training and research programs plus an intramural program are now operating. Newer FIC training programs are addressing chronic, noncommunicable diseases and strengthening the quality of medical schools and health care provider training. Most FIC trainees return to their countries of origin, where they mentor and train thousands of individuals in their home countries.
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Medically underserved communities suffer a high burden of morbidity and mortality, increasing with remoteness where access to health services is limited. Major challenges are the overall shortage and maldistribution of the health workforce. There is a lack of understanding of how academic institutions can best contribute to addressing these health inequities. A new international collaborative of health professions schools, Training for Health Equity Network, is developing and disseminating evidence, challenging assumptions, and developing tools that support health profession institutions striving to meet the health and health workforce needs of underserved communities.
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Approaches to health, health care, and the terminology to describe global health have evolved over the past 70 years since the introduction of the Constitution of the World Health Organization and definition of health in broader terms. The early focus on individual care gradually shifted to community, population, and global approaches, with associated changes in the site of medical care, the personnel who provide it, and the education and training of those personnel. Concomitantly, goals changed from purely curative care to disease prevention and health promotion. Health was better understood to exist within the larger political, social, cultural, and ethical settings.
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Infect. Dis. Clin. North Am. · Jun 2011
Global health capacity and workforce development: turning the world upside down.
This article explores global health and the way in which the whole world is increasingly interdependent in terms of health. High-income countries need to help redress the balance of power and resources around the world, for self interest and self preservation if for no other reason. These countries have a particular responsibility to help support the training of more health workers and to strengthen health systems in low-income and middle-income countries. In this interdependent world, high-income countries can learn a great deal from poorer ones as well as vice versa, and concepts of mutuality and codevelopment will become increasingly important.