Study Guide for Global Health
January 11, 2013 Syllabus
Critical Issues in Global Health—Spring 2013 –Yale School of Public Health
Course Number: HPA566B
Course Instructor: Richard Skolnik
Course Description:
The course will focus on critical challenges to the health of the poor in low- and middle-income countries and pay particular attention to how these health gaps can be addressed in low-cost and highly effective ways. The course will cover the architecture of global health, key trends in approaches to meeting the health needs of the poor in low- and middle-income countries, and how science and technology can be harnessed for this purpose. It will examine the burden of disease and the determinants of this burden. It will cover the leading causes of illnesses, disability, and premature death from communicable and non-communicable diseases, with special attention to women and children. It will focus particular attention on key health systems issues and recent efforts to overcome them, even in low-income settings. The course will be conducted largely through interactive discussions. There will also be some guest speakers in the class, usually via Skype. Readings will focus on helping students gain an understanding of the most fundamental issues on key topics and how they can be addressed. Case studies on both issues and on solutions to them will be employed in both assignments and in class. Students will be asked to prepare 3 policy briefs of 6 pages each for the course. There will be no mid-term or final examination.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completing the course, students should be able to do the following, particularly with respect to the health conditions that affect poor people in low- and middle-income countries:
* Outline the determinants of health and risk factors for conditions of importance to global health. * Describe the burden of disease in various regions of the world and how it varies both within and across countries and by country income group,
Critical Issues in Global Health—Spring 2013 –Yale School of Public Health
Course Number: HPA566B
Course Instructor: Richard Skolnik
Course Description:
The course will focus on critical challenges to the health of the poor in low- and middle-income countries and pay particular attention to how these health gaps can be addressed in low-cost and highly effective ways. The course will cover the architecture of global health, key trends in approaches to meeting the health needs of the poor in low- and middle-income countries, and how science and technology can be harnessed for this purpose. It will examine the burden of disease and the determinants of this burden. It will cover the leading causes of illnesses, disability, and premature death from communicable and non-communicable diseases, with special attention to women and children. It will focus particular attention on key health systems issues and recent efforts to overcome them, even in low-income settings. The course will be conducted largely through interactive discussions. There will also be some guest speakers in the class, usually via Skype. Readings will focus on helping students gain an understanding of the most fundamental issues on key topics and how they can be addressed. Case studies on both issues and on solutions to them will be employed in both assignments and in class. Students will be asked to prepare 3 policy briefs of 6 pages each for the course. There will be no mid-term or final examination.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completing the course, students should be able to do the following, particularly with respect to the health conditions that affect poor people in low- and middle-income countries:
* Outline the determinants of health and risk factors for conditions of importance to global health. * Describe the burden of disease in various regions of the world and how it varies both within and across countries and by country income group,
References: * Course Calendar, Readings, and Assignments Session 1 – January 16, 2013 * Read: Fried et al, Global Health is Public Health, The Lancet, February 13, 2011 – on V2 Session 2 – January 23, 2013 Part I – Demography and Health: This part of the session will be for the first 50 minutes and focus on a presentation by Professor Skolnik and related discussion * Age-specific and sex-specific mortality in 187 countries, 1970–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 H Wang and others * Healthy life expectancy for 187 countries, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden Disease Study 2010 J A Salomon and others