Health Equity in the SDG era: Perspectives from Southeast Asia
The George Institute for Global Health, India in collaboration with the Southeast Asia Region of the International Working Group for Health Systems Strengthening (IWG) is proud to present their sixth iteration of the Global Lecture Series on “Health Equity in the SDG era: Perspectives from Southeast Asia”.
The Southeast Asia Region of the IWG & The George Institute for Global Health, India, will be delving into a discussion on health equity in the SDG era. With eminent panellists from diverse contexts in the domain of health equity. The presentations will bring diverse national experiences on health equity –oriented research, policy, and capacity-building initiatives from across the region.
Area of focus
Worldwide concern over disparity and inequities resulted in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) commitment to “leave no one behind” the field of health equity research, with long origins in movements for social justice and health for all, is now increasingly established the world over. Progress on understanding health inequities and tackling them in a holistic and sustained fashion, however, has been uneven. Quite often, across regions, the lowest hanging fruit in tackling inequity have been chosen over more comprehensive, difficult, and participatory processes.
Despite sizeable social progress in the post-colonial period for several countries in the Southeast Asian region, the high burden of maternal and child mortality is joined by drivers of climate degradation, epidemiological transitions leading to heightened burdens of non-communicable diseases, challenges of over and under nutrition and health systems that, in many cases are chronically underfunded. The challenges of understanding and addressing health equity are clearly large, and those who have been at the frontlines of tackling these thorny issues may have some insights on what has worked, and what has not on the national and even regional scale.
Speakers
- Antonio Bonito - World Health Organisation, Regional Office & former Executive Director, the National Institute of Health, Timor Leste
- Dr Sohana Shafique – Deputy Project Coordinator, Urban Health Research Group, icddr,b, Bangladesh
- Dr Devaki Nambiar - Program Head Health Systems and Equity and Regional Coordinator, Healthier Societies at the George Institute for Global Health, India
The session concludes with moderated discussions and Q&A session where the audience can ask questions.
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References
[1] Friedman EA, Gostin LO, Kavanagh MM, et al. Putting health equity at heart of universal coverage—the need for national programmes of action. BMJ; 367. Epub ahead of print October 25, 2019. DOI: 10.1136/BMJ.L5901.
[2] Rasanathan K, Diaz T. Research on health equity in the SDG era: the urgent need for greater focus on implementation. Int J Equity Heal 2017 151 2016; 15: 1–3.
[3] Wagstaff A, Eozenou P, Neelsen S, et al. Introducing the World Bank’s 2018 Health Equity and Financial Protection Indicators database. Lancet Glob Heal 2019; 7: e22–e23.
[4] CU T. Health Inequalities in South Asia at the Launch of Sustainable Development Goals: Exclusions in Health in Kerala, India Need Political Interventions. Int J Health Serv 2018; 48: 57–80.
