Sheldon Margen Public Health Library
1 University Hall
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/PUBL/IntHealth.html

International Health Resources

See also the Public Health Library Research Guide: International Health

Organizations and Agencies

American International Health Alliance (AIHA)

AIHA operates under a cooperative agreement with the Agency for International Development (USAID). AIHA establishes and manages partnerships between health care institutions in the United States and their counterparts in Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union.

EurasiaHealth Knowledge Network is an "on-line clearinghouse featuring a library of multilingual health resources, databases, and interactive forums."

Disease Control Priorities Project

"DCPP is an ongoing effort to assess disease control priorities and produce evidence-based analysis and resource materials to inform health policymaking in developing countries." Their site includes major publications such as Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries; you can also create custom books from chapters of available publications. Downloadable data tables and research reports are also available. The site's resources are searchable and browsable by region, country, disease or condition, and topic.

Family Health International

FHI conducts research in family planning and sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV/AIDS) and offers many full text materials online.

Global Environmental Facility

"The Global Environment Facility (GEF) helps developing countries fund sustainable development projects that also protect the global environment. GEF focuses on: biodiversity loss, climate change, international waters, ozone layer depletion, land degradation, and persistent organic pollutants." GEF's implementing agencies are the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Environment Program, and the World Bank. These agencies partner with local NGOs. An online database of projects is available.

globalhealth.gov

This site functions as a portal for the U S Department of Health and Human Services Office of International and Refugee Health and describes DHHS projects and programs worldwide. It also has links to world health statistics, as well as OIRH publications.

Global Forum for Health Research

Only an estimated 10% of the $70 billion spent on health research and development annually is used for research into 90% of the world's health problems. The Global Forum's objective is to help correct this gap by focusing research efforts on diseases representing the heaviest burden on the world's health and facilitating collaboration between partners in both the public and private sectors. This is done by analysis of the burden of disease, cost-effectiveness analysis of investments in health research, and monitoring research flows in health research.

Health Canada

"Health Canada is the federal department responsible for helping the people of Canada maintain and improve their health."

Hesperian Foundation (Berkeley, CA)

"The Hesperian Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to improving the health of people in poor communities throughout the world by making health information accessible. We produce books and other educational resources for community-based health care. "

National public health agencies and organizations listed by country (Rollins School of Public Health, Public Health InfoLinks)

They also provide a list of international agencies.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

The OECD provides the governments of its 30 member nations a setting in which to discuss, develop and perfect economic and social policy. Numerous publications and statistics are available on their web site.

OECD Health Data
NOTE: Access limited to UCB faculty, staff and students

OECD Health Data is a interactive database covering over 1,200 indicators and offering sophisticated query modules. Some time series go back as far as 1960. Main fields covered include:

• Health status
• Health care utilisation
• Health care resources
• Expenditure on health
• Health Care Financing
• Social protection
• Pharmaceutical market
• Non-medical determinants of health
• Demographic references
• Economic references

SourceOECD
NOTE: Access limited to UCB faculty, staff and students

SourceOECD provides access to books, papers, statistics, and periodicals produced by OECD since the early 1980s. It is searchable by subject, series, country, and more.

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

PAHO's "essential mission is to strengthen national and local health systems and improve the health of the peoples of the Americas, in collaboration with Ministries of Health, other government and international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, universities, social security agencies, community groups, and many others." The site has many books, periodicals, databases, technical documents and more.

Country Health Profiles for the Americas

Regional Core Health Data Initiative - Table Generator System "includes 108 essential health indicators to quantitatively characterize the health situation of 48 countries and territories of the Region of the Americas for the period 1995-2004. With this Table Generator System, you can construct tables by any combination of indicator(s)/country(ies)/year(s)."

Population Reference Bureau

PRB provides information on U.S. and international population trends and their implications.

United Nations

Food and Agriculture Organization

Provides access to FAOSTAT, the online searchable database of international statistics for the following areas: Food Balance Sheets, Food Aid Shipments, Fertilizer and Pesticides, and Population. Users can also search or browse through FAO's digital photo archive MediaBase which contains more than 3,000 pictures.

Official Web Site Locator for the United Nations System of Organizations

United Nations Development Programme

UNDP focuses on helping countries build and share solutions to the problems of democratic governance, poverty reduction, energy and environment, HIV/AIDS, and more. "The Millennium Development Goals are an ambitious agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives."

Human Development Reports include global, regional, and national reports and data of the state of human development.

Official Documents of the United Nations

This database includes "all types of official United Nations documentation, beginning in 1993. Older UN documents are, however, added to the system on a daily basis. ODS also provides access to the resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council from 1946 onwards." Several search options are available.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Progress of Nations 2000

UNICEF Publications

Includes State of the World's Children and other statistical reports.

United Nations Statistics Division. Demographic, Social and Housing Statistics

Includes a database of social indicators "which monitor the results of recent major United Nations conferences on children, population and development, social development and women.", a Disability Database, (prevalence data), and more. Also includes information on methodology.

US Agency for International Development (USAID)

"USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. Our Work supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by supporting:

• economic growth, agriculture and trade;
• global health; and,
• democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance."

USAID's Global Health Website

USAID's global health projects focus areas include HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases, maternal and child health, and population.

Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC)

DEC acquires USAID-funded publications for dissemination to the international development community. Online services include searchable database, document submission, e-mail subscription (for notification of new titles), and ordering documents and CD's. The document database is searchable by topic, country, author, title, and more. There are almost 120,000 records in the database, with over 14,000 available for free download.

US-Mexico Border Health Association

"The U.S.-Mexico Border Health Association promotes public and individual health along the United States-Mexico border through reciprocal technical cooperation. It focuses its technical cooperation resources on information dissemination on border health issues and the creation of effective networks."

World Bank

World Bank e-Library
NOTE: Access limited to UCB faculty, staff and students

World Bank e-Library is "an online, fully cross-searchable portal of over 1,200 World Bank titles, plus each new book as it is published."

Country and region information

Projects, news, and basic data

HNPFLASH (World Bank)

A monthly electronic publication, HNPFLASH covers issues on health, population, nutrition, and reproductive health.

PovertyNet

"Resources and support for people working to understand and alleviate poverty." Includes an online newsletter, several online publications, and a Poverty and Health page.

World Development Indicators Online
NOTE: Access limited to UCB faculty, staff and students

This database provides "access to 695 development indicators with time series for 208 countries and 18 country groups from 1960 to 2002." Data includes vital statistics, demographics, labor force, health expenditures, malnutrition, pollution, trade, consumption, GDP, GNP, investment activity, debt, and much more.

World Health Organization (WHO)

Global Atlas of Infectious Diseases (World Health Organization)

"WHO's Communicable Disease Global Atlas is bringing together for analysis and comparison standardized data and statistics for infectious diseases at country, regional, and global levels. The analysis and interpretation of data are further supported through information on demography, socioeconomic conditions, and environmental factors. Key components of the Global Atlas include:

• Data Query - that allows users to browse, view, query, search the contents of the WHO's Communicable Disease global database and output data in reports, charts and maps.
• Interactive Mapping - that provides a user-friendly mapping interface that allows users to select geographic areas of interest and create maps of diseases, the location of health facilities, schools, roads, geographic features.
• Maps and Resources - that provides access to the public domain to static maps and related documents, publications and statistics on infectious diseases."

International Digest of Health Legislation

"The International Digest of Health Legislation contains a selection of national and international health legislation. Texts of legislation are summarized in English or mentioned by their title. Where possible, links are provided to other websites that contain full texts of the legislation in question." Searchable by country, subject, keyword, etc.

Regional Databases

Regional health and medical databases complement internationally known bibliographical indexes such as MEDLINE. There is a considerable amount of medical and health documentation from countries outside the major industrialized areas which is not included in MEDLINE. Includes:

- African Index Medicus

- Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region

- Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information

- Index Medicus for the South-East Asian Region.

Scaling up the Response to Infectious Diseases: A Way out of Poverty (January 2002)

"Just a few conditions are responsible for a high proportion of the avoidable deaths in poor countries - and well-targeted measures, using existing technologies, could save around 8 million lives per year and generate economic benefits of more than $360 billion per year, by 2015­-2020. This report outlines how increased investment in health can be well spent, stressing how interventions, health system strengthening and behaviour change together can help achieve these goals."

WHO report on Global Surveillance of Epidemic-prone Infectious diseases (2000)

Analysis and interpretation of data collected by WHO on the surveillance of infectious epidemic diseases, the strengths and weaknesses of the data, and how the data can be used and interpreted. Time series data for approximately half a century are reported for many of these diseases. Such data allow recent changes to be interpreted in a long-term perspective. Also, this volume uses a multiple disease approach, and examines not only the surveillance of nine different diseases, but also contrasts and compares their global surveillance systems.

WHO Statistical Information System (WHOSIS)

WHOSIS provides access to statistical and epidemiological data available from the World Health Organization and elsewhere.

The World Health Report

The World Health Report is WHO's leading publication. Each year the report combines an expert assessment of global health, including statistics relating to all countries, with a focus on a specific subject. The main purpose of the report is to provide countries, donor agencies, international organizations and others with the information they need to help them make policy and funding decisions. Previous year's WHRs are also available online.

Publications and Databases

To search for journal articles on this topic, use the Online Indexes and Databases. To locate journals, use the Melvyl catalog, or the UC-eLinks Electronic Journals Search.

Africa-Wide NiPAD (19th century-present)
NOTE: Access limited to UCB faculty, staff and students.

A comprehensive multidisciplinary database covering journals, magazines, newspapers, broadcasts, books and more on all aspects of Africa including politics, history, economics, health, and natural sciences.

Council of European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA)

"CESSDA promotes the acquisition, archiving and distribution of electronic data for social science teaching and research in Europe. It encourages the exchange of data and technology and fosters the development of new organisations in sympathy with its aims." The web site provides access to many European data archives, as well as several from other parts of the world.

Country Health Profiles (PAHO)

A short summary of General Situation and Trends, Specific Health Problems and Risks, and Health Services and Resources information is given for each country.

Country Profiles

From Eldis, an information service of the Institute of Development Studies, this site provides information and statistics on gender, environment, food security, health and population, education, and more on about 150 of the world's nations.

Country Reports and Country Profiles (Economist Intelligence Unit)
NOTE: Access limited to UCB faculty, staff and students

Country reports provide brief introductions to and forecasts of countries' political and economic scene. Country Profiles provide more detailed information on politics, resources and infrastructure, economic sectors, and more. These reports are updated at least annually, and nearly 200 countries are detailed. Commerce and financial reports are provided for some countries.

Country Studies/Area Handbooks (Library of Congress)

A series of books prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army. Most books in the series deal with a particular country, describing and analyzing its political, economic, social, and national security systems and institutions, and examining the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors. Most books contain some information on morbidity/mortality and health care delivery/family planning issues

Demographic and Health Surveys (MEASURE DHS+)

"MEASURE DHS+ assists developing countries worldwide in the collection and use of data to monitor and evaluate population, health, and nutrition programs. Demographic and health surveys provide information on family planning, maternal and child health, child survival, HIV/AIDS/sexually transmitted infections, and reproductive health". Data is available using the STATcompiler, an "online database tool that allows users to select numerous countries and hundreds of indicators to create customized tables that serve their specific data needs." In addition, DHS publications are available online, as are datasets (registration required for datasets access, but the data is available at no cost). NOTE: This site can not be accessed using Netscape 4.X.

Global Health
NOTE: Access limited to UCB faculty, staff and students.

Global Health indexes over 5,000 journals, books, reports, conference proceedings, patents, theses, and electronic only publications. Topics include environmental and occupational health, food safety and hygiene, infectious diseases, medical microbiology,nutrition, public health, toxicology, zoonoses, and more.

Global Health Quick Guide

Handbook of Latin American Studies

Citations in the area of Latin American studies from journals, books, and conferences. Coverage includes 1935 to the present.

HNPFLASH (World Bank)

A free monthly electronic newsletter, HNPFLASH covers issues on population, health, nutrition, and reproductive health.

InfoNation (United Nations Statistics Division)

InfoNation is an easy-to-use database that allows you to view and compare the most up-to-date statistical data for the Member States of the United Nations. The database contains four broad categories of data: geography (i.e. Urban Population), economy (i.e. GDP), population (i.e. infant mortality and total fertility rate), and social indicators (i.e. Life Expectancy and Homicides).

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (1951-present)
NOTE: Access limited to UCB faculty, staff and students

IBSS provides citations from journals, books, book reviews, and book chapters in the fields of economics, political science, sociology, and anthropology. Records come from more than 100 countries and languages. Most titles not in English are provided with an English title translation. About 2 million records are in this database.

International Data Base (U.S. Census Bureau. International Programs Center)

IDB contains statistical information on the demographic and socio-economic conditions for 227 countries and areas of the world. It combines data from country sources (especially censuses and surveys) with IPC's estimates and projections to provide information dating back as far as 1950 and as far ahead as 2050. Some types of data available include: population by age and sex, vital rates, infant mortality, life tables, and family planning.

National Intelligence Council (CIA) publications

The NIC is a "center for US Goverenment mid-term and long-term strategic thinking." Their reports "focus on new and emerging national security issues and transnational threats as described in Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project" (2000). Topics include HIV/AIDS, global humanitarian emergencies, global migration, infectious diseases, and environmental problems.

POPLINE (1970-present)

Maintained by the Population Information Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and funded primarily by the United States Agency for International Development, POPLINE (POPulation information onLINE) provides citations with abstracts of the worldwide literature on population, family planning, and related health issues. POPLINE references published and unpublished literature.

Population Index On The Web (1986-2000)

Published by the Office of Population Research of Princeton University, Population Index references international population literature. It provides access to books, journal articles, working papers, and other types of population literature.

World Factbook

Maps and information on the geography, people, economy, etc. of every country in the world. Published annually by the CIA.

The World's Youth 2000

This list of reports, published by the Population Reference Bureau, provides worldwide regional and national data on population, education, and health, with a special focus on sexual and reproductive health.

Guides

European Nations Statistical Agencies

From the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division, this site provides links to statistical agencies in Europe and elsewhere.

Foreign Government Data Sources (from the University of Michigan Documents Center)

Includes both comprehensive sources, as well as individual countries' statistical agencies.

Resources on African Health and Diseases

This site is maintained by the African Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania and is a guide to organizations and resources on various health topics, including HIV/AIDS, malaria, and health research and development. It also includes relevant information on jobs, grants, news and discussion lists.