Australian expertise has attracted an international meeting of health experts to help develop a global roadmap for effective treatments.
The three-day workshop, which began today in Brisbane, brings together leaders in the fields of mental health, drug abuse and public health. The aim of the workshop is to identify the most critical areas for health intervention using a scientific approach. The result will contribute to a document of global guidelines for disease control.
The workshop is part of international initiative - the Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP), which is a joint project of the Fogarty International Centre of the National Institute of Health(NIH), The World Health Organisation and The World Bank. The Project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The outcomes of the workshop will form four chapters in the second volume of ‘Disease Control Priorities in Development Countries” which will be published in 2005. The document will inform the work of organisations such as the WHO and The World Bank, providing a scientific foundation for health policies throughout the world.
Senior international health figures will attend the workshop, including project editors Dean Jamison (Professor of Public Health, UCLA, USA), Sir George Alleyne, former head of the Pan American Health Organisation and Provost of Harvard University, Dr Steven Hyman. (More details on attendees is attached.)
According to Professor Harvey Whiteford, who is co-ordinating the workshop along with Professor Alan Lopez, Brisbane was chosen as the location due to the high level of expertise provided by UQ scientists.
“Australia is providing more input into chapters of this globally significant document than any other country,” Prof Whiteford said.
“This workshop will bring together the intellectual firepower of a group of key researchers from throughout the world, whose involvement will influence government health priorities globally,” he said.
Prof Lopez, an internationally recognised leader in the field of public health and head of UQ’s School of Population Health said the workshop would help to develop an evidence base for managing the burden of disease.
“This information provides a quantitative basis for disease control. It assists health policy makers, particularly in developing countries, to make informed decisions about where health dollars should be spent to deliver the most cost effective results,” Prof Lopez said.
The increasing emphasis on cost effectiveness in the health sector, meant that countries such as Australia were also likely to have strong interest in the outcomes of the project, he said.
The workshop will be held from today until August 7 at Customs House, Queen Street, Brisbane.
TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS: KAREN LEIGHTON AT THE WORKSHOP ON 0402 319478 OR PROFESSOR HARVEY WHITEFORD 0418 755224 .
FOR MORE INFORMATION: FACULTY COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER MARLENE MCKENDRY ON 3346 4713 OR 0401 996847.
