Researching income and income distribution as determinants of health in Canada: gaps between theoretical knowledge, research practice, and policy implementation.

The research identified gaps in Canadian knowledge and research activity concerning the roles that income and its distribution play in Canadians' population health. 241 Canadian research studies on income and health were considered along eight taxonomies: conceptualization of income or its proxies; theoretical underpinnings; income distribution measures; health measures; who/what was studied, pathways mediating between income and health; complexity of these pathways; research design; and presence of policy implications. The study identified the following areas of weakness: (a) poor conceptualization of income and the means by which it influences health; (b) lack of longitudinal studies of the impact of income-related issues upon health across the life-span; (c) lack of linked data bases that allow complex analyses of how income and related issues contribute to health and well-being, and (d) little inter-disciplinary work in identifying pathways mediating the income and health relationship.

A global health equity agenda for the G8 summit.

The G8 summit in July could be used to enable developing countries to meet the millennium development goals. What should world leaders commit to?

Taming the brain drain: a challenge for public health systems in Southern Africa.

In southern Africa, rapid out-migration of health professionals is compounding the problems of health systems already faced with budget constraints and the impacts of HIV/AIDS. These negative effects are unlikely to be offset by remittances from abroad. The same dynamics that affect the international migration of health professionals operate within nations, for instance as they move from public to private systems.

Understanding "globalization" as a determinant of health determinants: a critical perspective.

The purpose of this article is to explain how globalization has evolved, in order to provide a context for assessing the health care restructuring that is occurring worldwide. The authors begin by defining globalization and introducing a framework for considering pathways that can affect social organization and health. They then draw attention to current trends, such as the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services), that promise to open health services provision to increased pressures of globalization.

Making research matter: a civil society perspective on health research.

Complex global public health challenges such as the rapidly widening health inequalities, and unprecedented emergencies such as the pandemic of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) demand a reappraisal of existing priorities in health policies, expenditure and research. Research can assist in mounting an effective response, but will require increased emphasis on health determinants at both the national and global levels, as well as health systems research and broad-based and effective public health initiatives. Civil society organizations (CSOs) are already at the forefront of such research.

Committed to health for all? How the G7/G8 rate.

The G7/G8 group of nations dominate the world political and economic order. This article reports selected results from an investigation of the health implications of commitments made at the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Summits of the G7/G8, with special reference to the developing world. We emphasize commitments that relate to the socioeconomic determinants of health (primarily to reducing poverty and economic insecurity) and to the ability of national governments to make necessary basic investments in health systems, education and nutrition.

Social inclusion/exclusion: dancing the dialectic.

The last decade has seen many of the 'community' concepts in health (community empowerment, community capacity) replaced by 'social' concepts (social capital, social cohesion). The continuous re-labelling of roughly similar phenomena may be a necessary stratagem to attract attention to the economic and power inequalities that arise from undisciplined markets. Social concepts also have an advantage over community ones by directing that attention to higher orders of political systems.

Nailing health planks into the foreign policy platform: the Canadian experience.

Foreign policy, especially trade policy, can have dramatic but rarely considered effects on public health. International human rights covenants oblige governments to scrutinise their foreign policy, including trade policy, for its impact on the progressive realisation of the right to health. Health is both a means and an end of development policy, but government investments in health are inadequate to reduce health disparities within and between nations.

Empowering social action through narratives of identity and culture.

Concern at widening health and wealth inequities between communities accompanying processes of globalization in recent years are reflected in contemporary definitions of health promotion, premised on the stratagem of individuals and communities increasing control over factors that determine health, thereby improving their health status. Such community empowerment practice is commonly accepted within the health promotion literature as encompassing intrapersonal, interpersonal and socio-political elements. Less articulated and understood, however, are the processes whereby the identities and cultures of marginalized communities intersect with and reverberate through these levels of action.

Evaluating community capacity.

The aim of the present study was to examine the convergence of two approaches used to assess community capacity in health promotion interventions. One was used to examine women and men in rural communities in Fiji, and the other to study women only in rural communities in Nepal. Both approaches used a set of 'capacity domains', a ranking scale and a means of visually representing the findings.

An integrated exploration into the social and environmental determinants of health: the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU).

The Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU) is a new interdisciplinary research institute established by the Universities of Saskatchewan and Regina. SPHERU developed four of its research programs using a hierarchic model of health determining conditions and contexts. In descending order these programs include: Economic and Environmental Globalization, Governance and Health Community/Environment as a Health Determinant Multiple Roles, Gender and Health Determinants of Healthy Childhood Development A fifth program researching the determinants of health of indigenous peoples spans all four levels.