World Hospitals and Health Services - International Hospital ...

EDITORIAL
Embracing the
‘health society’
PROFESSOR PER-GUNNAR SVENSSON
DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL HOSPITAL FEDERATION
This issue is a fine example of what I think the
International Hospital Federation does best which is to
gather experiences from around the globe and share
them and in this last edition of the year it is perhaps
appropriate that we have contributions from every continent.
They range in content from the higher principles behind
policymaking to the first hand accounts of the nursing
shortages in one Pakistani hospital with its dire and
sometimes unexpected implications. What links them all is
the constant change that they reflect and the intense
thought and actions that go into improving hospitals and
health systems. Change that will doubtless continue into
2005.
Sometimes to move forward we need to consider our
fundamental beliefs. For example, is there such a thing as a
‘health society’? Professor Kickbusch, a major figure in
global public health, believes there is and that the territory
of citizen health is on the march, offering opportunities for
all types of organisations and individuals to participate in the
governance of that society and embrace a radical new era of
health policy. IHF members will doubtless be a part of the
process she envisages.
The Vice-President of the German Hospital Association
sees a growing health society in Europe, where national
borders can no longer limit a growing ‘Common Market’ in
health care that looks to shared goals and competition to
provide them. Argentina’s recent economic and political
problems have had a devastating impact on the health
system of that country, but the crisis has also brought a
untied approach to unraveling a complex structure and the
real chance of a more inclusive health society. We have this
from a first hand account.
Part of any health society will undoubtedly be the
emerging reality of ehealth and in the first of our ehealth
sections put together under the auspices of the International
eHealth Association, we have the Canadian perspective from
Richard C Alvarez who is contributing so much to its
development there. We also take a look at the development
of the World Health Channel, a pioneering medical
education network.
Over the coming year, I’m sure that the pace of change will
not slacken and I hope that the journal will be able to help
readers embrace that change and learn how others see the
challenges and the solutions. I wish you a happy new year.
Finally, I would like, on behalf of the IHF, to forward our
deepest regrets and condolences to those countries hit by
the Tsunami disaster in South-East Asia. We will in later
issues of the journal, return to the issue of disaster
preparedness and the role of hospitals and health services
under such circumstances. ❑
Vol. 40 No. 4 WORLD | World hospitals Hospitals and and health Health services Services | 13| 03