 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Russell Morgan, DrPH, President, SPRY Foundation, 10 G Street, NE #600, Washington, DC 20002, (202) 216-8466, Morganr@ncpssm.org
Purpose: The presentation will provide an overview of organized international health initiatives in the US (late 60s – early 90s), with special emphasis on efforts of the American Public Health Association, as well as its support for the Secretariat of the World Federation of Public Health Associations, and the establishment of the National Council for International Health in the United States.
Background:
The work of US organizations involved in international health increased in the early 1960’s, largely due to the global independence of many developing countries. This coincided with APHA’s leadership vision that supported an active role in International Health in the early 1970s.
The presentation will discuss this inaugural period, identify some of the highlights and issues, as well as impediments. APHA’s first international health initiative – funded by a US private foundation, focused on the potential role of “non-governmental organizations” in delivering health services in developing countries. As more countries became independent, they faced great need for support in public health and medical care, particularly in rural areas as migration toward urban areas accelerated.
APHA also began an extensive relationship during this period with the US Agency for International Development, designed to mobilize US expertise to assist developing country health ministries in strengthening delivery of services.
APHA also explored new relationships with private sector groups, including for profit corporations. The International Health Resources Consortium was established by APHA as a separate organization designed to mobilize the resources of US corporations and channel them toward the improvement of targeted health needs in developing countries, often where the corporations were operating.
APHA was also involved in the formation of a new national coordinating body in the US for international health efforts, the National Council for International Health, and discussion will focus on the growth and transition of this organization into the Global Health Council
This was also the same time that APHA assumed a greater role in the World Federation of Public Health Associations, and a program was launched to explore how national public health associations could be strengthened, with two specific initiatives developed and tested in Costa Rica and the Philippines. In addition, the WFPHA together with APHA and CPHA, hosted a pre-Alma Ata Conference in Halifax, NS to bring together the international NGO’s to develop a platform for the 1978 Alma Ata “Health for All” conference. The resulting document was then presented by the President of the WFPHA in Alma Ata to all of the conference delegates. This was the first time the NGO community in WHO presented a unified voice on an issue to all of the government delegates. The impact was reflected in the final principles and documentation from Alma Ata.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.