Professor Todorka Kostadinova, of the University of Medicine in Bulgaria, has conceptualized the Equity Gap Analysis™, a research approach for determining points of intervention to achieve global health equity.

The foundation has global aspirations for this research to identify the gaps in access to health education and health care, and is focusing its initial research in three distinct regions. Drawing on the research Dr. Al-Hafez did in Asia, the foundation will begin with studies of displaced populations within the regions of our existing chapters. In the Americas we will study communities displaced by natural disasters. In Bulgaria, our focus will on be the Roma, the nearly one million Gypsies living within the country's borders. Our research in Macedonia will be among refugees displaced by war and the division of the former Republic of Yugoslavia. In each of these areas, we are looking for promising solutions that can be replicated elsewhere according to the local context.

The findings of this research will be available on this website, in articles, and in book form when substantive research has been conducted in selected communities around the world. The foundation will also distribute its findings to local governments and non-governmental organizations, educational institutions and the media.

For SOUHL Foundation's first educational media project in 2007, Dr. Al-Hafez did field research in Syria, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Tibet, observing challenges in providing health care to displaced populations, primarily in rural areas of those countries. He documented the innovative and adaptive responses led by grassroots organizations to provide health care in situations where the demand for acute care was necessary and prevalent. The research culminated in the production of a documentary film Displacement aXis™ which may be viewed online. SOUHL Foundation's staff is currently doing research for a second film documenting challenges and success stories in providing health care to populations displaced by recent hurricanes and floods in the Americas.

Public screenings of Displacement aXis™, and talks about the innovative ways health advocates are serving displaced populations in Asia and America, are raising awareness of the magnitude of the problems related to displacement and its impact on health education and health care access. SOUHL Foundation plans to increase understanding of these issues through conferences, editorials, articles and other publications. Our educational materials are available without cost to educational institutions, the media, governments, and grassroots and global non-governmental organizations.

*Click to download an introduction to the documentary.

The documentary Displacement aXis™ premiered on April 11th during a celebration of the birth of SOUHL Foundation.

In the fall of 2008 the demonstration model of a new web-based platform for accessing, sharing, and editing information related to global health equity will be released by SOUHL Foundation in collaboration with the WikiProfessional Consortium.  Access Health Library will enable millions of minds around the world to share current knowledge about health education and access to health care. It will have two tiers, one for professionals and one for consumers, and information will be available in multiple languages. An online Forum will connect patients and professionals with disease or topic interests.   Equity Gap Analysis papers and Displacement aXis™ articles will be accessible through the Access Health Library and Forum.

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