Combining health and social protection measures to reach the ultra ...

To achieve better health, particularly among the poor and marginalized inlow- and high-income countries alike, there is a need to improve healthsystems and services, to ensure equitable and affordable access to theseand to good quality medicines, and to address social inequities thatproduce and exacerbate poor health. Beyond the treatment of ill-health,much more attention is needed to create the conditions that enableindividuals, communities and countries to promote better health.The fourth Volume of the Global Forum Update on Research for Healthreflects the current state of health research in ensuring equitable access.The topics covered range from access to health, innovation and researchresources to decision-making and governance.This Volume is produced to coincide with the Global Forum for HealthResearch’s annual meeting, Forum 11, and contains articles from some ofthe leading institutions and public health professionals from across theworld.The EditorStephen Matlin,Executive Director of the Global Forum for Health ResearchEditorial Advisory BoardLuis Gabriel Cuervo, Pan American Health OrganizationMary Ann Lansang, University of the PhilippinesPaul Van Look, World Health OrganizationLenore Manderson, Monash University, AustraliaDavid McCoy, Global Health Watch, United KingdomDiane McIntyre, University of Cape Town, South AfricaCatherine Michaud, Harvard Center for Population and DevelopmentStudies, USARen Minghui, Ministry of Health, People’s Republic of ChinaAbdo Yazbeck, World BankFront cover image: Over one third of the population in developing countries lack access to essential medicines. Theprovision of safe and effective traditional medicine could become a critical tool to increase access to health care.Traditional medicine is the sum total of the knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs andexperiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses ormaintain well-being.The cover image represents “acupressure”, a traditional Chinese medicine technique whereby an appropriate pressureand manipulation is applied to prescribed acupuncture points using the fingers instead of needles. This technique iswidely used as a safer alternative to needling for a broad range of conditions. The Publishers would like to thank DrXiaorui Zhang from the World Health Organization for providing this explanation.ISBN 978-2-940401-01-7