Each year UCGH selects three issues that are representative of the National Member Organization’s campaigns and compatible of our advocacy mission.
The 2007-2008 issues are:
Ensuring Health Equity…
Achieving equity in global health means eliminating avoidable differences in health and providing health care based on need. In today’s world, the burden of disease is growing disproportionately in developing countries, where people die from preventable or avoidable diseases associated with low socioeconomic status.
Health inequities stem from many social factors like: lack of education, clean water, safe housing, unemployment, access to health care services, urban slums, unsafe workplaces, stigma and racial/gender discrimination and violence.
How does UCGH work to ensure health equity?
UCGH supports campaigns and projects that address the social factors leading to ill health and inequities, like addressing debt relief, unemployment, globalization and lack of access to health-care services. Most of our equity work is centered on HIV/AIDS and child health campaigns that address the social determinants of health.
Learn more about Global Health Equity…
- The International Journal for Equity in Health
- Dr. Paul Farmer talks about health equity
- International Society for Equity in Health
- Information on HIV/AIDS
- Information on Women and Children
Take Action to Ensure Equity for all…
- Ask your members of Congress to cosponsor the Global Child Survival Act of 2007 (H.R. 2266)
- Sign Advocates for Youth petition about international family planning
- Sign Advocates for Youth petition on youth and HIV/AIDS
- Volunteer with HIV/AIDS efforts on the ground with Students Partnership Worldwide
- Get your organization to endorse the 08 Stop AIDS platform
- Sign the Citizens Pledge
- Endorse the Prevention Justice Mobilization Platform
- UCGH organizations working on equity issues
Strengthening Health Systems…
A health system involves all the organizations, institutions and resources whose primary purpose is to improve health. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health systems as “all the activities whose primary purpose is to promote, restore, or maintain health.” The report also stated that the main objective of a health system is to improve health by responding to people’s needs and expectations and by providing services in a fair and equitable manner.
Components of health systems according to the WHO are:
- Service delivery
- Health information system
- Medical products and technologies
- Health-care workers
- Financing
- Leadership and governance
How does UCGH work to strengthen health systems?
UCGH supports policies that promote the creation of sustainable health systems and call for the United States to invest an additional $8 billion dollars over the next five years in the training, retention and support of health workers in Africa.
Learn more about health systems…
- Read the UCGH endorsed health-care worker platform, which has been endorsed by more than 400 organizations and professionals around the world.
- HCW Shortage Fact Sheet
- Migration of HCW Fact Sheet
- Read this Health Systems Article
- WHO Health Systems Initiative
- Learn more about the Joint Learning Initiative
- Global Health Workforce Alliance
- Partners in Health
- UCGH Organizations working to Strengthen Health Systems
- AMSA and the AIDS Advocacy Network advocate for solutions to creating sustainable health systems
- PHR rallies its physician and students members to advocate for the strengthening of the health workforce in Africa
Take Action for Health Systems…
- Support the African Health-care Investment Capacity Act 2007
- Demand that Congress include Health Systems language in the next round of the President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) reauthorization.
- Endorse the platform and be the health-care worker advocate in your university and district
- Support PHR work
Access to Essential Medicines
There are many barriers to providing care and proper medication for people living in developing countries. The prices of medicines and vaccines are so high that most people do not have access to the life saving drugs that they need. Recently, generic competition into the global market has catalyzed a dramatic drop in drug prices. This is the first step in the right direction, but still much more needs to be done to reform international patent laws and promote research of medicines that are applicable to the developing world.
How does UCGH work to provide access to essential medicines?
UCGH encourages all students to be informed about the unfair trade regulations that reduce access for millions of people globally. We host events and campaigns that encourage the development of generic medications and question the validity of United States trade laws and International Monetary Fund (IMF) that act as obstacles to access in the developing world.
Learn more about Access to Essential Medicines…
- Harvard Review Article “Patients vs. Patents”
- MSF Access to Essential Medicines Campaign
- International Association for Access to Generic Medicines
- Treatment Access Campaign
- WHO 3 by 5 Initiative
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