Health Strategy information

More general information can be obtained from:

• New Zealand
• Maori and Pacific
• International

New Zealand

• Women’s Health Action Submission to NCW CEDAW Project- NGO Alternative Shadow Report 2007 - May 2006
• New Zealand Strategic and Action Plan for Public Health: http://www.pha.org.nz/publications/mainfesto.htm and: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/wpg_Index/Forums-Index and scroll down
• The Women's Health Strategy Discussion Document (Ministry of Women's Affairs): http://www.mwa.govt.nz/new.html
  • Submission from Women's Health Action on Women's Action Plan available here as a .pdf document
  • Submission from Report on the WHA seminar on Women's Action Plan held 17 February 2003
• Status of Women: Non-Maori NGO Report for CEDAW, September 2002
  National Council of Women co-ordinated NGO contributions to this report which comments on New Zealand progress towards implementing the CEDAW convention. (CEDAW -Convention on the Elimination of Descrimination Against Women.) The 50 page Report covers progress since the last report and includes status summaries in the areas covered by the 16 articles. While all Articles are included, the quality of information differs across Articles depending on the level and quality of input. The Articles are:
  • Article 1 : Discrimination Against Women
  • Article 2 : Anti-discrimination measures
  • Article 3 : The Development and Advancement of Women
  • Article 4 : Acceleration of equality between women and men
  • Article 5 : Sex Roles and Stereotyping
  • Article 6 : Suppression of Exploitation of women
  • Article 7 : Political and Public Life
  • Article 8 : International Representation and Participation
  • Article 9 : Nationality
  • Article 10 : Equality in Education
  • Article 11 : Employment
  • Article 12 : Health
  • Article 13 : Economic and Social Life
  • Article 14 : Rural women
  • Article 15 : Equality before the law and in civil matters
  • Article 16: Marriage and Family Life
• The Report is available for $25 from National Council of Women but the Executive Summary is free. Link to Executive Summary of CEDAW Report at http://www.ncwnz.co.nz/framemenus/fcedaw.htm
• Statistics New Zealand - Women
  Statistics New Zealand has analysed some of the information from the last census and produced a profile on women in NZ. For this Statistics summary , click on this link at: http://www.stats.govt.nz/domino/external/web/Prod_Serv.nsf/htmldocs/Women
• Building a Future for Women's Health 1998
  Presentations and discussion from the HRC's November 1998 conference. At: http://www.hrc.govt.nz/root/Publications/Conference_Reports.html

From Women's Health Action publications

• See Gender Analysis Tools page for guidelines in using gender as a determinant in health research
• See the gender pages and related pages for more gender-specific tools and information

Maori and Pacific

• National Health Committee: Improving Maori Health Policy
• Health Research Council: http://www.hrc.govt.nz/root/Maori%20Health%20Research/About_Maori_Health_Research
  for Maori Health reserch in general - need to read for specific references to wahine.
• Pacific Health Dialogue (PHD) Journal of Community Health and Clinical Medicine for the Pacific
  The medical journal devoted to Pacific health. March 1995. Vol. 2 No. 1 Population, Women and Development, Issue Editor Dr. Sitaleki Finau. Details available: http://www.resourcebooks.co.nz/phd/back_issues/phd1995mar.htm
• PACIFIC RESEARCH DATABASE is available from the PacificHealth Research Centre at Whitireia Polytechnic. Contact them at: http://www.whitireia.ac.nz - No specific to Pacific Women.
• Te Puni Kokiri has compiled a trend sheet about Maori health Tikanga Oranga Hauora (PDF 332KB) and statistics about Maori smoking patterns.
  The trend sheet identifies key Maori health issues and notes the strong correlation between socio-economic factors and health. We highlight: Significant behaviours that affect health and may be influenced by socio-economic status, including:
  • more likely than non-Maori to have ever smoked regularly
  • Tobacco smoking,
  • Alcohol consumption,
  • and Physical activity.
  • The incidence of health conditions such as diabetes and obesity, which are predicted to reach epidemic proportions this century.
  • Persistant health inequalities in New Zealand, pointing out that there is some evidence that these are linked to socio-economic factors.
  • Maori health status levels, which are considerably lower than those of non-Maori across a range of health indicators, eg, life expectancy.
• Ngai Tahu Mäori Health Research Centre Overview The Ngai Tahu Mäori Health Research Unit is a partnership between Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu and the Dunedin School of Medicine of the University of Otago. The Unit collects, collates, interprets and publishes information, data and statistics on Mäori health issues - an essential part of Mäori health development. The research focuses for the Unit are: hauora rangatahi (young people's health); hauora wahine (Mäori women's health) and oranga niho (dental health). The Unit has collaborative research projects with the Injury Prevention Research Unit, New Zealand Environmental and Occupational Health Research Unit, and The Christchurch Health and Development Study. The Unit also assists other research groups with aspects of Mäori health research that may be part of their respective projects. Further information Mr John Broughton, Director, Ngai Tahu Mäori Health Research Unit, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, PO Box 913, Dunedin, Tel 64 3 479 7268, Fax 64 3 479 5611, Email john.broughton@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
• Coupe, N.M., Millar, J.M., Godinet, S.3, Zu Bentheim, W.3 ‘Investigating the Needs of Mäori Women from National Women’s hospital’. Prepared for National Women’s Hospital, Auckland, 2000.
• Tomlins Jahnke, H. (2002). Towards a secure identity: Maori women and the home-place. Women's Studies International Forum, 25 (5), 503-513
• Durie, M., Fitzgerald, E., Kingi, Te K., McKinley, S., Stevenson, B. (2002). Maori specific outcomes and indicators. Ministry of Maori Development, June.
• Dowden, A., & Taite, S. (2001). Aukati Kai Paipa 2000 evaluation. Aukati Maori Health Providers, March 22, Taipa Bay, NZ.
• Dowden, A., & Taite, S. (2001). Aukati Kai Papa 2000 evaluation. Aukati Maori Health Providers, June 17, Kokiri Marae, Wellington, NZ.
• Dowden, A., Yardley, G., Gilhooly, B., Kalafatelis, E., Taite. S., Te Kani, F., Cunningham, C. (2001). Aukati Kaipapa 2000 Evaluation Report (confidential). (BRC #1836) 1-95. Wellington, NZ: BRC Marketing & Social Research.
• Jahnke, H.T. (1997). Towards a Theory of Mana Wahine. He Pukenga Korero: A Journal of Maori Studies, 3 (1), 27-36.
• Taiapa, J. (1999). Te Hoe Nuku Roa: The project. August 5, Indigenous Women's Organisation Representatives, Holoi, Hawai'i, USA.
• Love, C.M. (2000). Wahine Maori; Whanau Maori; maximising potentials. Address to staff of Nelson College for Girls, July 27, Parents and Primary Teachers Association and New Zealand Association for Counsellors, Nelson, NZ
• DP No 6 Maori Mortality Patterns in the New Zealand Economic Reform Period. Brown C M., May 1998, 21 pp.

International

• What Evidence Is There About The Effects Of Health Care Reforms On Gender Equity, Particularly In Health?
  Health Evidence Network, 2005
  In most countries the pressure for health care reform is aimed at improving the efficiency, equity and effectiveness of the health sector. Emerging evidence shows that health care reforms can affect men and women differently, as a consequence of their different positions as users and producers of health care. This review assesses the impact of four key health care reforms - decentralization, financing, privatization and priority setting - on gender equity in health. More available here: http://www.euro.who.int/HEN/Syntheses/genderEquity/20051027_2
• Eldis/HRC Health Resource Guide - http://www.eldis.org/health/index.htm
  Published by ELDIS, the aim of these online resource guides is to bring together information from their databases and to present it for quick access. Each of the guides is overseen by an editor or editorial team. Each of their subject-focused guides is meant to offer quick access to key documents, organisations, research themes, discussions and other key resources.
• Gender, Health, and Development in the Americas 2003 , The Population Reference Bureau
  Full text available in PDF (PDF: 198KB) (January 2004)
  This data sheet profiles gender differences in health and development in 48 countries in the Americas, focusing on women's reproductive health, access to key health services, and major causes of death. Its objective is to raise awareness of gender inequities in the region and to promote the use of sex-disaggregated health statistics for policies and programs. The data sheet also provides basic population and development indicators and information on other factors that influence health, including education, employment, political participation, and risk factors. Staff of the Pan American Health Organization and the Population Reference Bureau compiled this information using data from official national sources as well as data collected by specialized international agencies.
• Society for Women's Health Research - Sex based Biology
  Sex-based biology is the study of biological and physiological differences between men and women. Scientists have long known of the anatomical differences between the sexes, but only within the past decade have they begun to uncover significant biological and physiological differences between the sexes. Sex differences have been found everywhere from the composition of bone matter and the experience of pain to the metabolism of certain drugs and the rate of neurotransmitter synthesis in the brain.Sex-based biology has revolutionized the way that the scientific community views the sexes. The evidence is overwhelming, and as researchers continue to find more and more biological differences, they are gaining a greater understanding of the biological and physiological composition of both sexes.
  An April 2001 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, "Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health," confirmed that differences between the sexes exist in the prevalence and severity of a broad range of diseases, disorders and conditions.
  For additional information, please view:
  Women and Men: Ten Differences That Make A Difference, a brief summary of sex-based biology, or
  Just the Facts: Sex Differences in Women’s Health Research, a comprehensive fact book of sex differences across the disease spectrum
• What Counts and Who’s Counted in Women’s Health Research? Centres of Excellence for Women's Health Bulletyin, Winter 2002, Vol2, No3. Download the PDF (395 KB, 20 Pages) Contents: What Counts in Health Research? 1. What Counts and Who's Counted in Women's Health Research?, A Full Measure: Women's Occupational Status and Health, Towards Gender-sensitive Health Indicators, Silent Measures: Disability in the Canadian Biotechnology Strategy, The Challenges of Studying the Health of Women Working in Call Centres, Research as a Spiritual Contract: An Aboriginal Women's Health Project, Gender-Based Analysis: Beyond the Red Queen Syndrom, How to Make Research Count
• Guide to producing national health accounts: with special applications for low-income and middle income countries. World Health Organization - ISBN 92 4 154607 7 - 2003 Available online as PDF file [330p.]
  National health accounts are practical tool for policy-makers interested in evaluating and restructuring their nation's health care financing and in developing and assessing financial interventions to improve people's health. This Guide to producing national health accounts, with special applications for low-income and middle- income countries provides practical help in developing this socioeconomic information. As the global community seeks better ways to alleviate world poverty and to ensure better health in low-income and middle-income countries, NHA provide a basis for tracking external resources contributed to the health sector. Health accounts can facilitate monitoring the implementation of resources within initiatives such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan, and they can help track use of resources to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and other global initiatives. National health accounts are designed to answer precise questions about a country's health system. They provide a systematic compilation and display of health expenditure. They can trace how much is being spent, where it is being spent, what it is being spent on and for whom, how that has changed over time, and how that compares to spending in countries facing similar conditions. They are an essential part of assessing the success of a health system and of identifying opportunities for improvement. In the long term, a country can institutionalize the health accounts process and produce a time series of standardized tables, permitting a more thorough assessment of the progress being made toward national goals for the health system...."
• The Nova Scotia Provincial Health Council has now completed work on the Determinants of Health Indicator Project.
  Beginning in October 2001, the Council began forming committees of interested members of the public and experts from various fields to develop 10-12 indicators for each of the Determinants. The indicators agreed upon by the committees were communicated a series of reports. The indicators were intended to provide the starting point for comprehensive data collection in the areas of population health, social conditions and measures of the effectiveness of health promotion initiatives, and to illustrate the effects of the Determinants of Health on the Nova Scotian population on an ongoing basis.
  Data collection resulting from indicator development was explicitly mandated to be from publicly available sources, and the information was to be free or inexpensive to collect. The indicator collection process will result in the creation of a health status indicators database, which will provide provincial, national and international comparisons of the health status of citizens of the Province of Nova Scotia. As a result, the Health Council, in its role as advisor to the Nova Scotia Government, will have on hand a large volume of information with which to support the policy development process.
  The Council has now completed the indicator development project, having generated a total of 150 indicators on a wide variety of topics that influence health. These indicators will serve as a basis for a series of health status reports based on the life cycle. The first of these reports will be released provincewide in early April, 2004. The Council and the staff are very proud of the work we have accomplished, and we hope you will take the time to examine our work. The final determinants report will be posted to the website, www.healthcouncil.ns.ca , in early February, after the final few revisions are completed.
• "Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families (previous generations' socioeconomic status as well as current socioeconomic status) begin their lives with a poorer platform of health and a reduced capacity to benefit from the economic and social advances experienced by the rest of society. Journal: Social Science and Medicine ISSN : 0277-9536 Volume : 58 Issue : 6 Date : Mar-2004
  The generational transmission of socioeconomic inequalities in child cognitive development and emotional health J.M. Najman, R. Aird, W. Bor, M. O'Callaghan, G.M. Williams, G.J. Shuttlewood pp 1147-1158 Full text via ScienceDirect : http://www.sciencedirect.com/science? - search under title.
  Socioeconomic inequalities in the health of adults have been largely attributed to lifestyle inequalities. The cognitive development (CD) and emotional health (EH) of the child provides a basis for many of the health-related behaviours which are observed in adulthood. There has been relatively little attention paid to the way CD and EH are transmitted in the foetal and childhood periods, even though these provide a foundation for subsequent socioeconomic inequalities in adult health.The Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) is a large, prospective, pre-birth cohort study which enrolled 8556 pregnant women at their first clinic visit over the period 1981-1983. These mothers (and their children) have been followed up at intervals until 14 years after the birth.The socioeconomic status of the child was measured using maternal age, family income, and marital status and the grandfathers' occupational status. Measures of child CD and child EH were obtained at 5 and 14 years of age. Child smoking at 14 years of age was also determined.
  Family income was related to all measures of child CD and EH and smoking, independently of all other indicators of the socioeconomic status of the child. In addition, the grandfathers' occupational status was independently related to child CD (at 5 and 14 years of age). Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families (previous generations' socioeconomic status as well as current socioeconomic status) begin their lives with a poorer platform of health and a reduced capacity to benefit from the economic and social advances experienced by the rest of society.
• New CDC Online Journal: Preventing Chronic Disease
  The currentl issue of Preventing Chronic Disease is now available at www.cdc.gov/pcd where you will find downloadable articles and more information.
• A New Guide to Gender and Health is now available
  The Health Policy and Communications Branch, Health Canada is pleased to announce the release of Exploring Concepts of Gender and Health, a new guide for the implementation of gender-based analysis (GBA) for health research and policy. Developed by the Women's Health Bureau, in consultation with GBA contacts across the department, the guide provides an overview of key concepts in gender and health and suggests how to integrate GBA into the research-policy-program development cycle. It also includes case studies and a comprehensive listing of information and resources related to gender and health.
  This document is available online at: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/women/exploringconcepts.
• "A Profile of Women's Health Indicators in Canada" The Women's Health Bureau, of Health Canada, has released a new gender-based inventory of health indicators report. "A Profile of Women's Health Indicators in Canada" is now available online at: http://www.gpiatlantic.org/publications/health.shtml#women. - along with other women's health specific reports
• 'Health Inequalities - A Programme for Action' - UK. An action plan was published July 2 aims to tackle widespread inequalities in health across England. 'Health Inequalities - A Programme for Action' provides detailed ways for local organisations to change the way they deliver services to improve the health of disadvantaged groups. More information on the programme and access to the full plan is available via http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HealthAndSocialCareTopics/HealthInequalities/fs/en
  Full document free online as PDF file [ 84p.] at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4008268&chk=Ad%2BpLD