The course focuses on Tuberculosis (TB), with modules including TB epidemiology, diagnosis, immunology, drug and vaccine development, and biosafety. A practical session will be organized, during which participants will perform techniques related to antibiotic resistance to tuberculosis.

Dr. Fabienne Tacchini-Cottier, Head WHO-IRTC,
Department of Biochemistry, chemin des Boveresses 155,
CH-1066 Epalinges, Switzerland.
Email: francoise.flejszman@unil.ch, assistant to Dr. F. Tacchini-Cottier.
Internet: http://apps.who.int/tdr/svc/grants/calls/advanced-tdr-who-course

The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) invites researchers, living and working in the developing countries, to apply for one of ten 12-month career development fellowships on Clinical Research & Development at selected pharmaceutical companies and related institutions globally. The goal is to develop human resources to promote high quality R&D in the disease endemic countries (DEC) in the areas of project management, regulatory compliance and good practices. It is expected that qualified professional will be able to enhance DEC product development capacity on diagnostics, drugs and vaccines against infectious diseases that disproportionately impact low income countries. The programme will train individuals in situ with relevant partners in order to develop specialized skills not readily taught in academic centres, including inter alia R&D project management, regulatory compliance and good practices. Upon completing their fellowships, the individuals are expected to return to their home institutes and assume a leading role and become valuable resources in the global effort on R&D for neglected infectious diseases.

The proposed training programme extends TDR's work in empowering DEC scientists to lead, manage and direct vaccine trials against AIDS/HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and other neglected tropical diseases and is based on a successful model developed between GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK) and TDR over the past eight years.

Steven Wayling
Research Networks Manager
Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases
World Health Organization
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0)22 791 39 09
Fax: +41 (0)22 791 48 54
E-mail: waylings@who.int
Internet: http://www.who.int/tdr/svc/grants/calls/clinical-research-fellowships

Objective: To strengthen evidence and knowledge with respect to health workforce development and to promote the use of innovative methodological approaches, data or tools, to measure and monitor health workforce capacity to respond to public health needs.

We invite researchers to submit an abstract related to the following themes, which may be from a country-specific, regional, or global perspective:.

• The use of new and existing data sources and tools to measure and monitor the health workforce’s capacity
• Parameters of staffing allocation for health services
• The use of innovative measures and predictive models to analyze health workforce supply-demand dynamics, as well as wage levels, especially for low-skilled workers
• The effect of health workforce geographical distribution, mobility, rural-urban migration, and demographics on access, quality, organization and outputs/outcomes of health service delivery
• Health workforce demand and training needs under various health service delivery models
• Health productivity and skill mix, and the tools used to measure and monitor them
• The structure, scope, and role of the private sector in the supply of human resources for health

Email: conferenciarhs@ims.uerj
Internet: http://www.who.int/hrh/events/2010/conference_research/en/index.html or Click here

Emergencies, disasters and other crises are increasing in number and magnitude, and are affecting multitude of vulnerable and unprotected people. Public health systems and social safety nets in many countries become further weakened and are easily overwhelmed. The added value of humanitarian work is also challenged, and reforms to improve quality, accountability and predictability of response are changing the ways humanitarian organizations work.

The purpose of this Course is to prepare professionals with knowledge and experience in different public health and related fields to work effectively, efficiently and safely in the design, implementation, management and/or coordination of emergency response and early recovery.

Related links:
- Purpose and learning outcomes
- Contents and methods
- Faculty and partners

World Health Organization
20 avenue Appia
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Email: hactraining@who.int
Internet: http://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/training/predeployment/phpd5/en/index.html

The health systems of countries in crisis are often weak and unable to address the increased health needs of the population. Moreover, health workers in these countries often have limited capacity to analyse the major features and weaknesses of the health system.

This lack of capacity hampers the formulation of appropriate sector strategies and plans. As a result, emergency appeals and response interventions are often prepared based on inadequate evidence. This poses major challenges to both Governments and the international community.

This course aims to address these constraints as part of a broader learning programme to improve the analytical and planning capacity of Ministries of Health and agencies in countries in chronic crisis. The overall objective of the programme is to strengthen health professionals' ability to analyse health systems in countries in crisis; develop adequate response and recovery strategies; and plan and implement effective interventions. The course organizers will mentor selected participants following their return to their countries.

Related links:
- Training content
- Methodology
- Country Case Studies
- Faculty

World Health Organization, 20 avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
Ms Karima Jambulatova
Tel: +41 (0)22 791 1332 or
Email: jambulatovak@who.int
or
Ms Annalisa Camozzi, Merlin
Tel: +44 207 0141 690
Email: annalisa.camozzi@merlin.org.uk
Internet: Click here

Montreux, Switzerland

No other $ 5 trillion economic sector would be happy with so little investment in research related to its core agenda: the reduction of health inequalities; the organization of people-centred care; and the development of better, more effective public policies. – The world health report 2008 Mark your calendar now – the World Health Organization and partners will convene
the inaugural global symposium on health systems research on 16-19 November
2010. Researchers, policy-makers, funders, and other stakeholders representing
diverse constituencies will gather in Montreux, Switzerland to share evidence, identify
significant knowledge gaps, and set a research agenda that reflects the needs of lowand
middle-income countries.

Achieving and sustaining universal health coverage requires attention to a broad range of issues that are central to health systems performance. This includes drawing on the six interdependent health system building blocks – finance, workforce, services, technologies, information, and governance – and understanding how policies and programmes from within and beyond the health sector can be developed and implemented effectively, efficiently, and equitably.

Although universal health coverage is highly country and context specific, rigorous scientific research has the potential to generate evidence to inform better policy and practice within and across countries. For example, robust methodologies could be instrumental in identifying how the services for HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, immunization and maternal and child health can be scaled up to reach the poor and disadvantaged more quickly and sustainably in low-income countries. Similarly, prospective monitoring and evaluation of universal health coverage policies in middle-income countries can help to better target the vulnerable populations and make important mid-course corrections.

World Health Organization
20 avenue Appia
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Email: healthsystemresearch@who.int
Internet: http://www.hsr-symposium.org/ or Click here for PDF

Every two years, WHO co-sponsors the World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion. Considered the major scientific platform for furthering knowledge on violence and injuries, the World Conference draws around 1,200 of the world’s leading researchers, practitioners and advocates from more than 130 countries.

The event is hosted and organized by Liverpool John Moores University, a WHO Collaborating Centre for Violence Prevention. The overall theme is "Safe and Equitable Communities". Topics include among others prevention of violence; prevention of unintentional injuries; occupational safety; and trauma care and disaster management.

While primarily a scientific gathering, the World Conference increasingly draws policy-makers. Two important pre-meetings to the 10th World Conference will convene policy-makers from the health sector:
* the European Public Health Ministerial Conference on Injury and Violence Prevention; and
* the Third Global Meeting of Ministry of Health Focal Points for Violence and Injury Prevention.
These two events contribute to bridging the science of what works to prevent violence and injuries with the policies that lead to action in countries.
Conference programme

Tel: +44 (0) 1772 336 639
Email: info@safety2010.org.uk or safety2010@ljmu.ac.uk
Internet: http://www.safety2010.org.uk/ or Click here

On 16-22 August 2009, Durban will play host to the 57th Session of the International Statistical Institute, the first in Sub-Saharan Africa. An ISI Session, held biennially, provides a platform for the gathering of over 5000 of the world’s statisticians from public, private, research and educational institutions to share experience in a diverse range of statistical issues. The theme of this Session is aptly titled “Statistics: our past, present and future”, as South Africa and the African continent celebrate a revitalization of statistics and statistical development.

The goal of the Special Topic Meeting at the ISI 2009 Session is to promote statistical discourse on measuring health workforce inequalities and the implications for policy and planning. Contributed papers will focus on methodological developments and applications for measuring health workforce inequalities, with special attention to monitoring trends and evaluating their impacts on health systems performance and population health outcomes.

The health workforce is broadly defined to include all those who promote and preserve health as well as those who diagnose and treat disease. Also included are health management and support workers – those who help make the health system function but who do not provide health services directly. Inequalities in the health labour market may refer to, for example, workforce imbalances by occupation, geographical typology, place of work or gender.

The STCPM will take place on 18 August 2009 from 15:30-17:45 at the Durban International Convention Centre. Contributed papers will represent different experiences from selected low and middle income countries, including Brazil, Mexico and Ethiopia. Travel awards for researchers to present their work at the STCMP are being provided by WHO/HRH. The final papers will be published in a forthcoming WHO publication on health workforce inequalities.

About the WHO Department of Human Resources for Health
About the International Statistical Institute
About the ISI 2009 Session in Durban

Mario R. Dal Poz, Coordinator
Departement Human Resources for Health
Tel: +41 (0)22 791 35 99
Fax: +41 (0)22 791 47 47
Email: dalpozm@who.int
Internet: http://www.who.int/hrh/events/2009/inequalities/en/index.html

The Global Health Workforce Alliance, the Prince Mahidol Award (PMA) Conference and the World Health Organization are delighted to announce that they will jointly convene the second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health in Bangkok, Thailand in the first quarter of 2011.

Since the endorsement of the Kampala Declaration and Agenda for Global Action at the first-ever Global Forum on Human Resources for Health held in Kampala, Uganda in March 2008, significant commitments and unprecedented levels of action relating to strengthening the health workforce have been made. As a result of these global and national efforts, several countries have made significant progress in improving their citizens' access to quality health care supported by appropriate levels of trained health workers. Nevertheless, the global health workforce crisis continues with millions of health workers needed to bridge the chronic gaps.

The second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health will review and assess progress made on the Kampala Declaration and Agenda for Global Actions; celebrate successes and identify gaps and new challenges for the health workforce crisis.

We hope that the Forum will provide an extraordinary platform for consensus and capacity building, sharing and exploring solutions, and will further galvanize the global movement that is emerging as a response to the increasingly pertinent human resources for health crisis.

Global Health Workforce Alliance
2008 Forum
World Health Organization
20 avenue Appia
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland

Tel: +41 (0)22 791 1057 or +41 (0)22 791 4957
Fax +41 (0)22 791 4747
Email: ghwaforum@who.int
Internet: http://www.who.int/workforcealliance/forum/en/

A successful health care system depends heavily on an adequately sized and well-trained
workforce. The delivery of health services requires sufficient financial resources, up-to-date
technology, and, above all, a productive health workforce. However, in many countries today, the
performance of health workers is weakened by a large number of shortcomings and bottlenecks,
including inadequate training, lack of continuing education, supply and demand imbalances,
geographic maldistribution, insufficient work coordination, overlapping work domains, adverse
working conditions, absence of professional incentives, etc. All these negative factors, if not
corrected by a strong process of management and planning, decrease the efficiency of the health
care system and reduce the productivity of health workers, fueling their emigration to other
countries or directing them to careers outside the health sector.

The participants are invited to contribute papers on the various issues concerning the health
workforce; in particular efforts designed to measure and improve performance. The themes
suggested are briefly presented hereafter:

• Measurement of workforce performance
• Observation of the mutual relationship of health workforce performance and health
  system performance.
• Action for improving workforce performance

Dr Bui Dang Ha Doan, Centre de Sociologie et de Démographie Médicales
168 A, rue de Grenelle
75007 Paris (France)
Tel: +33 (0)1 45 55 73 77
Fax: +33 (0)1 45 55 87 94
Email: csdm.fic@wanadoo.fr
Internet: http://www.who.int/hrh/events/symposium_workforce.pdf

Health and development today face unprecedented threats. The financial crisis threatens the viability of national economies in general and of health systems in particular. Global warming and climate change exert a toll in human life, especially in lower income countries. Security threats create a sense of shared uncertainty for communities around the world.

In this context, health promotion has never been more timely or more needed. Over the period from the Ottawa Conference through the six global conferences to Bangkok, a large body of evidence and experience has accumulated about the importance of health promotion as an integrative, cost-effective strategy, and as an essential component of health systems primed to respond adequately to emerging concerns. Read the conference overview

Thematic tracks at the conference:
1. Community empowerment
2. Health literacy and health behaviour
3. Strengthening health systems
4. Partnerships and intersectoral action
5. Building capacity for health promotion
6. Africa Day

Internet: http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/7gchp/en/

The general objective of this Seminar is to advance collaboration between WHO and other stakeholders from governmental and non-governmental organizations engaged in promoting the quality and safety of medicines in the global community.

The programme has been developed to increase awareness and knowledge of quality assurance and safety of medicines, blood products and related biologicals with a special focus on WHO standard-setting processes. Presentations, briefing and discussion topics will include :

* WHO development of guidelines, pharmacopoeial monographs and information resources;
* collaborative approaches underpinning classification systems (International nonproprietary names, Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification;
* quality assurance of medicines, blood products and related biologicals;
* WHO prequalification project activities;
* WHO global pharmacovigilance programme ;
* WHO input to international control of narcotic and psychotropic substances.

Dr Shanthi Pal
Quality Assurance and Safety of Medicines
WHO
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0)22 791 13 18
Fax: +41 (0)22 791 47 30
Email: pals@who.int
Internet: http://www.who.int/medicines/technical_briefing/quality/en/index.html

Objectives: By the end of the programme participants will:
1. have a general understanding of the most common problems in the pharmaceutical sector in developing and transitional countries; and wil have shared experiences in addressing these challenges;
2. have a general understanding of how WHO and the UNICEF Supply Division support developing and transitional countries in strengthening the pharmaceutical sector;
3. appreciate the importance of National Drug Policies as the best approach to make essential medicines of good quality available to all who need them, and ensure the rational use of medicines;
4. be aware of ways to strengthen collaboration with WHO and other organizations supporting the pharmaceutical sector in developing and transitional countries;
5. understand the impact of international agreements on pharmaceuticals;
6. be aware of current issues such as pharmacovigilance, pricing issues, traditional medicines and counterfeit medicines.

Mrs Anita Korinsek
Email: korinsekportaa@who.int
Internet: http://www.who.int/medicines/technical_briefing/tbs/en/index.html