Возможно, эта информация осталась для вас не замеченной, но этой зимой Россия совершила важнейший прорыв к улучшению состояния здоровья населения страны, заслуживающий самой высокой оценки: в стране принят федеральный закон, запрещающий курение в общественных местах и ограничивающий продажу сигарет. Таким образом, Россия присоединилась к многочисленным странам, в которых борьба с курением отнесена к первоочередным задачам здравоохранения.
La semaine dernière, l’Inde, l’Éthiopie et les États-Unis organisés un Sommet pour des actions concrètes en faveur de la survie de l’enfant, avec la participation de représentants venus du monde entier. Cet événement est à la fois opportun et fondamental : l’enjeu est de renforcer davantage les engagements pris sur le plan national et international ainsi que la responsabilité des pays dans la réalisation du quatrième objectif du Millénaire pour le développement (OMD), qui vise à réduire la mortalité infantile. Si de nombreux progrès ont été accomplis dans ce domaine, il est des pays qui risquent de ne pas remplir cet objectif à l'horizon 2015 et qui ont le plus besoin de notre soutien et de notre coopération.
La semana pasada, los Gobiernos de India, Etiopía y Estados Unidos organizaron una Cumbre de Llamamiento a la Acción para la Supervivencia Infantil, con la participación de líderes mundiales y nacionales. Se trata de un evento oportuno y fundamental, destinado a fortalecer aún más el compromiso mundial y de los países y la responsabilidad de estos en el logro del objetivo de desarrollo del milenio (ODM) 4: reducir la mortalidad infantil. Aunque hemos observado una mejora sustancial en esta meta, los países que requie renmás de nuestro apoyo y asociación podrían no alcanzarla para 2015.
This week, the governments of India, Ethiopia and the United States will host a Child Survival Call to Action summit, with the participation of country and global leaders. This is a timely and critical event, aimed at further strengthening global and country commitment and country accountability for MDG4, to reduce child mortality. Though we’ve seen substantial improvement on this goal, the countries that need our support and partnership most may not reach it by 2015.
My recent work in Azerbaijan convinced me that reforming medical and public health education programs is critical to revamping clinical processes and public health practices for effective prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries. In this small Caspian Sea country, improving physicians, nurses and public health specialists’ educational programs—which are hampered by outdated conceptual and methodological structures and practices—is starting to receive priority attention in the country’s quest to improve health system performance.
The challenge is shared globally, as different countries are struggling to sufficiently staff their health systems with well-trained, deployed, managed and motivated physicians and nurses to provide quality medical care, and competent staff to manage service delivery and carry out essential public health work such as disease surveillance.
With few exceptions, such as the 2010 Lancet commission report*, medical, nursing and public health education reform has failed to appear in the international health agenda—yet we continue to focus on employment and remuneration of existing personnel. This has to change. Why? Simply because the adoption of and adaptation to local conditions of new knowledge, country experiences and good practices help accelerate social and economic development.
Last week, the World Bank hosted the Washington, D.C., launch of The Lancet’s 2011 child development series, four years after the journal revealed that more than 200 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries were not reaching their developmental potential, due to (preventable) risk factors like stunting, iron and iodine deficiencies, and lack of cognitive stimulation. The latest research findings in The Lancet provide even greater clarity on the developmental inequality that continues to plague many millions of children.
