Creating an international initiative to support capacity building to ensure effective voice for epidemiology in influencing national and international public health policy
RSPH was approached by APHA Epidemiology Section to meet at the 2013 APHA Meeting in Boston to discuss matters of common interest, in particular to explore building capacity through international collaboration.
The IEA World Congress is the ideal forum to explore further the benefits of international collaboration to ensure that epidemiology has the capacity, skills and voice systematically to influence health policy around the world.
METHODS: At the initial meeting in Boston, (Nov’13) six societies from three countries were represented. The agreed purpose of the meeting was to explore the motivation for, desirability of, and mechanisms by which international collaborations might be accomplished.
RESULTS:
Several areas of mutual concern or interest were identified, in three categories:
i. Epidemiological topics of mutual and global concern - eg
- Tobacco: Plain packaging of cigarettes in UK/FDA regulation in the US
ii. Ensuring an effective voice for the epidemiology community so that public health policy may always be influenced by sound epidemiological evidence – eg:
- The nexus between science and policy
- Identifying gaps in policy and practice to which policy makers will respond
iii. Ethics guidelines, practice standards and policy statements – egs:
- Census cuts/elimination of population data collection occurring in many countries
- Tackling inadequacies of the present peer-review system
Countering poor and malicious science—ref: Ben Goldacre
CONCLUSIONS:
This initiative, presented on behalf of those present at the initial meeting, brought together some parties interested and influential in building international capacity, collaboration and consensus to enhance the effectiveness and impact of the voice of epidemiology around the world.
The O’Connor Group is a new forum for exploration of ideas but not a new organisation. It hopes to meet and grow in Alaska, and agree how best to ensure we build international capacity and support for the voice of epidemiology to be optimally effective on the world stage of public health policy.