Showing papers by "Thomas E. Novotny published in 2007"

Global health diplomacy: training across disciplines

Abstract: Perspectives Global health diplomacy: training across disciplines Ilona Kickbusch, a Thomas E Novotny, b Nico Drager, c Gaudenz Silberschmidt d & Santiago Alcazar e Introduction In the March 2007 issue of the Bulletin, cross-cutting issues involving health and foreign policy were examined from a broad range of perspectives: conceptual, educational, military, trade, develop- ment and humanitarian aid, national and human security, migration, analytic, environmental and human rights. David Fidler, an expert in international law, re- flected that there might in fact be a revo- lution under way in health and foreign policy, 1 though the transformation is not completely understood and still relies on governments to see health as a key function of foreign policy. Nevertheless, the changing landscape of health and foreign policy now involves so many new actors, approaches and funding opportu- nities that there is an inevitable sense of chaos accompanied by excitement about the opportunities ahead. Some governments have taken pur- poseful strides to incorporate health as a foreign policy tool. Perhaps, however, it is the other way around: foreign policy is now being driven substantially by health to protect national security, free trade and economic advancement. We offer a few examples of this changing field of health and foreign policy as background to our academic response: • The United Kingdom is attempting to establish policy coherence with the development of a central govern- mental global health strategy based on health as a human right and global public good. Rooted in the recogni- tion of globalization and its effects on health, this new effort will bring together the United Kingdom’s for- eign relations, international develop- ment, trade and investment policies that can affect global health. 2 a • Switzerland has prioritized health in foreign policy by emphasizing policy coherence through mapping global health across all government sec- tors. 3 Through the Departments of Interior (Public Health) and Foreign Affairs, an agreement on the objec- tives of international health policy was submitted to the Swiss Federal Council to assure coordinated devel- opment assistance, trade policies and national health policies that serve global health. • Brazil has demonstrated policy co- herence through its assertion of health as key to its own development and as a basis for south-to-south cooperation. In particular, Brazil’s role in asserting flexibility in the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellec- tual Property Rights (TRIPS) agree- ment to support the health concerns of sovereign nations set the stage for an integrated, rights-based approach to trade policy. Today, Brazilian dip- lomats serve key roles in health and other ministries to assure policy co- herence across the government; they have also provided leadership in key multinational health negotiations such as the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. • The Global Health Security Initia- tive (GHSI) is an international part- nership to strengthen health pre- paredness and response globally to biological, chemical, radio-nuclear and pandemic influenza threats. Launched in November 2001 by Canada, the European Commis- sion, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, WHO provides technical support to the initiative (available at: http://www. ghsi.ca/english/index.asp). • The ministers of foreign affairs of Brazil, France, Indonesia, Norway, Senegal, South Africa and Thailand established an initiative on Global Health and Foreign Policy in 2006, with an Oslo Ministerial Declaration in 2007 that recognized the need for new forms of governance to support development, equity, peace and se- curity. 4 The issue of health and foreign policy has not escaped the attention of multi- national organizations such as the Or- ganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and others. 5 WHO has formed the Inter- governmental Working Group on Intel- lectual Property, Innovation and Public Health to find new ways to deal with access to health care and medicine. Director-General Margaret Chan has made it clear that health and foreign policy are inextricably linked and that the Member States are challenged to support this linkage. The interface be- tween trade and health is, in fact, on the cutting edge of health diplomacy. Health professionals need to under- stand this interaction to assure rational trade agreements, informed by health needs and supported through progres- sive foreign policy. 6 However, global health governance is a mixed bag of unclear accountability and exciting op- portunity. The infusion of large, new funding sources from philanthropy and the unprecedented attention provided by celebrities, former presidents, de- velopment economists, multinational banks and others has stimulated the Graduate Institute for International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland. University of California, San Francisco, United States of America. Correspondence to Thomas E Novotny (e-mail: novotnyt@globalhealth.ucsf.edu). c Department of Ethics, Trade, Human Rights and Law, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. d Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, Bern, Switzerland. e Ministry of Health for International Affairs, Brasilia, Brazil. doi: 10.2471/BLT.07.045856 (Submitted: 8 July 2007 – Revised version received: 24 October 2007 – Accepted: 25 October 2007 – Published online: 1 November 2007) b Bulletin of the World Health Organization | December 2007, 85 (12)

Addressing smoking cessation in tuberculosis control

Abstract: New approaches to TB control may be necessary to curb this growing epidemic. We argue that these approaches might need to include both cognitive and pharmaceutical assistance for smoking cessation among TB patients.The International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases recently called for inclusion of brief smoking cessation advice in standard TB case management.

Perceptions of tobacco advertising and marketing that might lead to smoking initiation among Chinese high school girls

Abstract: More than 320 million of China’s 1.3 billion people are smokers (66.9% of all men and 4.2% of all women ⩾15 years old).1 Although Chinese men have been the subject of considerable research,2–4 little is known about smoking initiation among women. Our preliminary tobacco document research suggests significant female market segmentation and brand development by transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) in China. To understand the influence of these factors, we conducted a pilot study on susceptibility among young women in Beijing. We assembled five focus groups of high school girls aged 16–19 years (n = 27) during summer 2006. After obtaining informed consent, a trained, female medical student conducted focus groups to ascertain knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, beliefs and intentions to smoke. Thirteen subjects reported smoking experience (smoked 100 lifetime cigarettes or smoked …