KPLU Local News
(2010-10-11)
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Dr. David Fleming, director of Public Health for Seattle King County, speaks at the Global To Local event at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle on Monday, October 11, 2010.
Tom Paulson/KPLU photo.
(KPLU) -
Some communities in western Washington have such poor health that they would benefit from solutions invented for developing countries. That's the idea behind a new health project in south King County. It stems, in part, from huge and often invisible disparities in the Seattle area, between the haves and the have-nots.
"The shocking news," says David Fleming, director of Public Health for Seattle King County, "is that on many of our most important health outcomes, like obesity, tobacco, and access to health care, King County is worst in the nation," in terms of the gap between the healthy and the unhealthy.
That gap persists despite world-class hospitals, doctors and researchers. To address the problem, Public Health is teaming up with Swedish Medical Center, the Washington Global Health Alliance, and Healthpoint community clinics. The new enterprise is called "Global to Local."
They're focusing initially on Tukwila and SeaTac -- two suburban towns with large pockets of poverty, and with immigrants who speak many languages other than English.
Swedish is giving $200,000 a year, for five years, to help get the partnership started. Other funding is coming through Public Health, and through $400,000 earmarked in a Senate Appropriations bill, by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray.
The idea started in conversations between Swedish executives and leaders of locally based global health organizations. "How can we take these remarkable things that we've done in developing nations and bring them home to our local communities, who need that help?" said Dan Dixon, vice president of external affairs at Swedish, at a press conference announcing the partnership.
For example, the project is starting with an approach you might use in Africa or India -- first, hold meetings in the community to learn what works and what doesn't, from their perspective. And, since poor health is so often a symptom of overall poverty, they plan to combine microfinance and economic projects with health care outreach.
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For an alternate view on the "Global to Local" project check out the Humanosphere blog.
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