Session: Approaches to Address and Promote Health Equity in Developing Countries


Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

4348.0: Tuesday, December 13, 2005: 8:30 PM-10:00 PM

Oral

Approaches to Address and Promote Health Equity in Developing Countries

The effect of poverty on health outcomes is a significant barrier to human development on a global scale. Disparities in wealth and the impact on access to health services are profound, and discussed during the presentations in this session. The subjects will address interventions in both preventive health and treatment in country examples, as well as global efforts to measure and reduce the inequity in health status of populations. Specifically, the presentations will discuss (1) a study in Cambodia examining the relationship between economic disparity and childhood malnutrition, as evidence that poverty alleviation is critical to improve health and nutritional status of Cambodian children; (2) Reproductive and Child Health Alliance’s microcredit scheme in Cambodia that partners with three provincial governments to support community health education and health services; (3) a community health promoter program, the Roma Health Mediator (RHM), which trains women to provide outreach and education in Roma communities to increase linkages to health and social services; (4) a review of 45 Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) to determine how family planning and reproductive health services are included and managed in various low-income countries, and (5) the structure of the Equity Gauge Strategy (Global Equity Gauge Alliance), which incorporates three pillars that support evidence-based change in society, and bring social justice directly into social and political planning.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to (1) understand the implications of wealth disparities on inequity in health outcomes; (2) examine local and international efforts to address health inequities on a policy level, and (3) explore examples of interventions designed to reduce health disparities in developing countries.

Moderator(s):

Henry Perry, MD

8:30 PM

Introductory Remarks

8:35 PM

Impact of wealth disparity on nutritional status of young children in Cambodia
Rathavuth Hong, DrPH, Vinod Mishra, PhD, MPH

8:50 PM

Micro-credit Scheme for Health: Breaking poverty – ill-health cycle in Rural Cambodia

Dy Khoy, MD, Kmseng Sieng, MD

9:05 PM

Roma Heath Mediators: Bridging the health gap in Romania
Sophia Brewer, MPH, Merce M. Gasco, MD

9:20 PM

Addressing Reproductive Health and Family Planning in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
Maria R. Borda, MPH, Carol Shepherd, ScD, PhD

9:35 PM

Concluding Remarks

See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information.

Organized by:

International Health

Endorsed by:

Alternative and Complementary Health Practices; Caucus on Refugee and Immigrant Health; Maternal and Child Health; Public Health Education and Health Promotion; Public Health Nursing; Socialist Caucus

CE Credits:

CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA