International Health Politics and Policy Seminar
1.45 for 2.00 – 4.30, Friday April 15th
Room B08, Whelan Building, University of Liverpool, Quadrangle, Brownlow
Hill, Liverpool
(Open meeting – no booking required)
2.00
The G8, Africa and Global Health: A Platform for Global Health Equity
(followed by discussion)
Professor Ronald Labonte,
Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa
(For further information see below)
3.0
Tea / coffee break
3.15
Promoting Population Health in the Shadow of Neo-Liberal Political
Economies: Canadian and UK Public Policy in Comparative Perspective
(followed by discussion)
Professor Dennis Raphael
School of Health Policy & Management, York University, Toronto
4.15
General discussion
4.30
Close
Further information on Professor Labonte’s presentation
The Group of 8 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia,
the USA, the UK and, with special membership, the EU) represents the
world’s wealthiest and economically most advanced countries. Their
individual and collective decisions or actions play a dominant role in the global
economy and politics. Their annual summits include numerous commitments,
statements of intent and normative assessments/claims related to global
economic management, security, development and health. Health has
increased in prominence during recent summits, particularly since the late
1990s. But how adequate have these responses been in light of global health
needs, especially in Africa? And are the macroeconomic assumptions
underpinning the G8’s vision of globalization – and increasingly also the
conditionalities placed on development assistance or funding from the World
Bank and IMF – the right ones to create greater health equity? What does the
evidence tell us might be the ‘healthiest public policies’ for global equity that
the G8 should adopt when the UK hosts the 2005 summit next July? And
what campaigns should be supported by a strong ‘health voice’ to help place
these policies high on the G8 agenda?
These questions will be addressed during a special seminar, featuring Prof.
Ronald Labonte. Dr. Labonte holds a Canada Research Chair in Global
Health Equity at the University of Ottawa. Prior to that, he directed the
Saskatchewan Population Health Evaluation and Research Unit (SPHERU) at
the Universities of Saskatchewan and Regina. Over the past eight years most
of his research has focused on the health impacts of economic globalization
and trade/investment liberalization. He has worked with the World Health
Organization and the Pan-American Health Organization on health and
globalization issues, and has represented health NGOs in several multilateral
meetings on this topic. He is a founding member of the new Canadian
Coalition for Global Health Research, and a past Board member of the
Canadian Society for International Health, the Canadian Public Health
Association and the Ontario Public Health Association. He currently advises,
and is a contributor to, the Canadian Institute of Gender and Health project
examining the intersect of globalization, gender and health; is part of the
Global Health Watch project, a civil society initiative that will release its first
‘alternative’ world health report in July, 2005; and works with the Nuffield Trust
on a variety of global health issues. Some of his current research focuses on
the impacts of G8 health and development commitments, and macroeconomic
policy practices, on global health, particularly for southern Africa. He has
published extensively on globalization and health. His most recent book, coauthored with Ted Schrecker, David Sanders and Wilma Meeus, Fatal
Indifference: The G8, Africa and Global Health, was published earlier this year
by the University of Cape Town Press/IDRC Books. Prior to his work in
globalization and health, Dr. Labonte spent for over 20 years as a public
health practitioner, developing, and published extensively on, models of
health promotion, population health, community development and
empowerment practice, evaluation, public health indicators and community
capacity-building.
For further information contact:
Dr Alex Scott-Samuel, Division of Public Health, Universityof Liverpool
(0151) 794 5569 or alexss@liv.ac.uk