Week 1 - Readings

Question 1

What are the potential risks of accepting funding for global health research from corporations?

Answer 1

Risk of skewing research priorities and exacerbating health inequities

Question 2

What are 3 questions that researchers should ask themselves before accepting money from corporations?

Answer 2

1. Does this funding allow me/us to retain control over research design, methodology and dissemination processes?
2. Does accessing this funding source involve altering my/our research agenda (i.e., what is the impact of this funding source on research priorities)?
3. What are the potential “unintended consequences” of accepting corporate funding, in terms of legitimizing corporations or models of development that are at the root of many global health problems?

Question 3

What is a benefit of corporate grants for global health research?

Answer 3

Provide necessary funds to enable urgently-needed research and interventions

Question 4

What are 3 reasons for the increasing importance of corporate funds in global health research?

Answer 4

1. reduced public investments in research
2. reduced public revenues through tax reductions and avoidance
3. increasing faith in private-sector solutions for health problems

Question 5

What is industry bias?

Answer 5

that industry-funded studies of drugs and medical devices are significantly more likely to find results that are favourable the commercial interests of funders

Question 6

What has been central to “structural adjustment programs” imposed by international financial institutions?

Answer 6

the requirement that indebted countries in the South grant unrestricted access to mineral resources by multinational corporations

Question 7

What are the health consequences of “structural adjustment” or “austerity” programs?

Answer 7

1. reduced health system capacity
2. increased income inequality
3. decreased protections for workers and the environment.

Question 8

What are the 3 primary dangers of corporate sponsorship that the 3 questions are meant to address?

Answer 8

1. Industry bias in research caused by influence on the design and conduct of the study, analyses, reporting of results, and spin
2. Industry bias cased by the shaping of which research questions are asked, and they types of strategies for tackling global health issues that are promoted
3. Global health issues that may arise from legitimizing a corporation

Question 9

What is development assistance?

Answer 9

foreign aid

Question 10

What is Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ?

Answer 10

NOT DONE SECOND READING YET

Question 11

The discipline of modern public health was established on the basis of which 4 factors?

Answer 11

(1) decision making based on data and evidence
(2) a focus on populations rather than individuals
(3) a goal of social justice and equity
(4) an emphasis on prevention rather than curative care.

Question 12

Global health, public health, and international health share which characteristics?

Answer 12

1. priority on a population-based and preventive focus
2. concentration on poorer, vulnerable, and underserved populations
3. multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches
4. emphasis on health as a public good
5. participation of several stakeholders