Global health in Tuscany - The Unit

It is made in Tuscany the Center for Global Health, the result of an innovative alliance between health authorities, the Regional Government and University

“From the late nineteenth century to the seventies of the twentieth century, the advanced societies of the West all have become progressively less unequal . Thanks to progressive taxation, public subsidies for the poor, social services and protections against the blows of fate, modern democracies were releasing from the problem of the excesses of wealth and poverty. (…) Over the last thirty years we have thrown away everything. “ So writes historian Tony Judt about political upheavals that took place since the 80s onwards, with the globalization of the economy and the hegemony of neo-liberalism (read post on March 1, 2013).

These upheavals have also affected the health systems, producing a radical paradigm shift: health becomes a variable “employee” of the economy . (The “old” paradigm used to say that human health was the foundation, the pre-condition for economic and social development of a community, of a nation.)

Place the health variable as a “dependent” of the economy has had two major consequences: 1. And ‘the economy that this compatibility levels of health spending and investment in health, 2. The health services have become more and more business object, a source of profit, prey of financial intermediation and insurance.

On a global scale all had very different consequences.

In countries that have enjoyed the benefits of globalization (eg competition on labor costs) which have recorded significant sometimes explosive increases in the GDP, it went well for health services. In some countries very well, such as Brazil, Mexico and Thailand, where increased investment in health was associated with measures in favor of greater equity. But even here, and a much greater extent in other countries such as China, India and South Africa (where they are huge inequalities in health and access to health services), private health insurance market and rampant supreme.

Western Europe, that was the cradle of the “welfare state” universalistic and health systems, it is instead the ‘area that is most suffering the consequences of globalization. These systems, first – in deference to the economy – you are “aziendalizzati” then – in compliance with the compatibility imposed by ‘economy (ECB, IMF, etc..) – have been impoverished, and now are rapidly privatizing, becoming prey of financial intermediation and insurance.

This and other changes, globalization and health, how to combat these trends, how to strengthen the culture of the right to health is widely discussed in the conference which was held in Florence on June 7, during which he was presented the Regional Centre for Global Health (read here). This Centre – the result of an innovative alliance between health authorities, regional government and universities, in order to undertake initiatives to provide information, training, “advocacy”, research and technical assistance – is divided into the following four different subject areas.

International health cooperation. The Regional Centre for Global Health will the task of coordinating the subjects of network International Health Cooperation (CIS) of the Tuscany Region and the promotion of all international activities in the health of the Region of Tuscany, including admissions of a humanitarian nature of patients, mainly children, suffering from diseases that are not treatable in countries of origin.

Neglected Tropical Diseases and Medicine travelers. This thematic area – in the development of training activities and research – relies on the Center for the Study and Treatment of Tropical Diseases, University of Florence, which provides a service to those that traveling abroad fall with suspected pathology import and migrants presenting diseases whose diagnosis and treatment require resources and targeted skills.

health policies. This thematic area will focus on the inequalities in health between countries and even within countries; comparative analysis of international health systems; study and analysis of the policies of international organizations that deal with health (WHO, WB, UNDP, UNICEF, etc.).

Health of migrants. The Regional Centre for Global Health will be responsible for coordinating and directing the subjects Tuscan operating in this subject area in order to intervene in an organic way, linking the actions of such persons, taking into account the specificities of each area and the migrant community.