Public Policy& Health Newsletter

ERROR in date format 24, 2010
Deliberating to inform decision-making
The National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (NCCHPP) has organized a day-long workshop to be held in Montréal on March 12th, during the Annual Public Health Days. The objective of this one-day conference is to inform public health professionals and decision-makers about the use of deliberative processes to inform decision-making. The list of speakers includes Julia Abelson (McMaster University), Mark Dobrow (University of Toronto), Michael Orsini (University of Ottawa), John Lavis (McMaster University), Luc Rabouin (Centre d’écologie urbaine de Montreal), Normand Brunet (Université de Montréal), Hubert Doucet (Université de Montréal), Michel Venne (Institut du Nouveau Monde), and many others. This workshop will be bilingual and simultaneous translation will be provided.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health
The 3rd International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health will be held in Toronto May 5-8, 2010. An emphasis will be placed on identifying areas of scientific knowledge that will be of greatest interest to practitioners and policymakers. In particular the focus will be on outcomes and determinants of physical activity and health. The anticipated outcome of the 2010 Congress is to assimilate, interpret and share scientific evidence with key stakeholders who are in a position to develop recommendations concerning effective physical activity policies and programs within their own jurisdictions.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
7e Université d'été francophone en santé publique
The seventh edition of the francophone summer school will be held in Besançon, France, July 4-9, 2010. The event proposes 3 broad themes: Policy and management of health, population approaches, methodologies and evaluation. This last theme will feature a track entitled “Health impact : Introducing health in all policies”. The deadline for registration is April 15, 2010.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
Bulletin de liaison de la Chaire CACIS « Spécial Forum 2009 »
This newsletter provides audio and video format of the plenary session as well as and papers presented at CACIS forum (Chaire Approches communautaires et inégalités de santé, Faculté de médecine, Université de Montréal) on strategies to reduce social inequalities in health held in Montreal, October 8-9, 2009. This event was intended to produce a status report on the evaluation of interventions aimed at reducing social inequalities in health and to initiate discussion and reflection on the effectiveness of these interventions.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
Childhood obesity: affecting choices (free subscription is needed)
US First Lady Michelle Obama has launched an ambitious initiative to eliminate childhood obesity within a generation. Obama's initiative, dubbed “Let's Move”, is a multifaceted intervention that tackles four drivers of childhood obesity: lack of parental knowledge about healthy food choices, poor standards of nutrition in schools, low levels of children's physical activity, and restricted access to healthy food shops in low-income areas known as “food deserts”.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
Drinks industry must do better on labeling
Latest data shows 85 percent of drinks not labelled properly in the UK. The drinks industry is failing to adhere to a voluntary agreement with Government on alcohol labels and just 15 percent of drinks give consumers enough information about units and health harms, according to an independent report published today. Labelling is a crucial part of helping people make informed decisions about how much they drink and what the risks could be of drinking too much on a regular basis. To cement the way forward, the Government is launching a consultation asking for views on how best to improve unit and health information on the labels. It offers three options to move forward: 1) do nothing and continue with the current voluntary agreement, 2) renew and strengthen the self regulatory agreement, 3) introduce a mandatory requirement on labelling.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
Enjeux de santé publique reliés à l'étatisation des jeux d'argent sur Internet
This document aims to present a review of known risks regarding online gaming and its nationalization in a context where there are around 2 500 gambling sites on the Internet. This paper shows the relationships between exposure to online gambling sites and gambling problems. It also examines strategies adopted in Sweden regarding state ownership and mitigation of harm through monitoring devices online.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
Healthy Food, Healthy Communities: Promising Strategies to Improve Access to Fresh, Healthy ...
Improved access to healthy foods can improve the health of local residents, reduce health disparities, create and retain jobs, improve local economic development, and generate increased tax revenue. More generally, and just as importantly, these efforts can help transform underserved communities into communities of choice and opportunity. This report shows how policymakers can support and promote innovations emerging at the grassroots and help expand and scale up innovative programs through public policy.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
Tale of Two ObesCities - Municipal Responses to Childhood Obesity
This report was produced by the London Metropolitan University and City University of New York to analyze the epidemics of childhood obesity in London and New York, to compare municipal responses and to recommend strategies for reversing these epidemics. To strengthen the two cities’ response to childhood obesity and to accelerate efforts to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity, the CUNY/ London Met Childhood Obesity Collaborative recommends that city governments in London and New York take the steps under the following areas : Land use and planning, food, Parks and Green Space, Transportation, schools, Research and training.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation Report on the Scientific Basis of Tobacco Product ...
This WHO Technical Report Series makes available the findings of an international group of experts that provide WHO with the latest scientific and technical advice in the area of product regulation. The report presents the conclusions reached and recommendations made by the members of the WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation on the following two themes: 1) Devices designed for the purpose of nicotine delivery to the respiratory system in which tobacco is not necessary for their operation, 2) Setting regulatory limits for carcinogens in smokeless tobacco.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
La participation du public dans l’évaluation d’impact sur la santé : pourquoi et comment?
Public participation aims to involve citizens in decision making. For several years now, governments are implementing various initiatives to include the population, especially decisions impacting on health. This paper is primarily concerned with public participation and then discusses its implementation in health impact assessment as well as the various issues it raises.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
Health Impact Assessment: Quick Guide
This guide provides a brief orientation to potential users of health impact assessment (HIA) who are working to create healthier living environments. The guide focuses on topics that will help users understand the process and addresses some common misconceptions about HIA.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
Impact Assessment Board Report for 2009
The Impact Assessment Board is a central quality control and support function working under the authority of the Commission President. It is independent of the policy making departments. The Board examines and issues opinions on all the Commission's impact assessments and hence on the quality of the analysis underpinning the policy proposals the Commission puts forward. It also provides advice to Commission services on methodology at the early stages of preparation of the impact assessments. This report states on the main developments in the Board's work in 2009 and important issues for 2010.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
Valuing lives saved from environmental, transport and health policies: a meta-analysis of ...
It is increasingly common to include estimates of value of statistical life (VSL) into analyses of proposed policies that affect people’s mortality risks. The main aim of this report is to assess how various policy-relevant factors impact on VSL. More specifically, the report aims at explaining to what extent VSL estimates depend on whether the mortality risk is caused by environmental pollution, transportation and non-environmental health risks.
ERROR in date format 24, 2010
ERROR in date format 24, 2010