Europe - Regional Activities
The
People’s Health Movement visiting Germany
Invited by medico international,
two well known activists for the Right to Health for All from the
International People’s Health Council and old acquaintances of medico
visited Germany for one week in November/December 2004 to present their work
and the People’s Health Movement.
We welcomed
Maria Hamlin Zuniga from Nicaragua, International Coordinator of the IPHC
and founding member of the Network of Community Health in Central America
and David Sanders from South Africa, Director of the School for Public
Health at the University of Western Cape. Unfortunately, our third guest,
Thelma Narayan from India, the Coordinator of Community Health Cell in
Bangalore and regional convenor of the People’s Health Movement in South
India could not come to complete the group with the south asian perspective.
To let the
perspective of the PHM be heard in the German discussions around “health
care reform”, privatisations of public services and strategies of health
promotion and to promote the knowledge of PHM across the German and European
borders, medico had prepared a week tour with public talks and small round
table discussions with health activists and experts, culminating in a series
of panels at the 10. German conference on Poverty and Health.
In
Bielefeld, a university town of 180.000 inhabitants in Northrhein-Westfalia,
our guests exchanged experiences with health activist from projects for
health care for homeless people and drug addicts, HIV/AIDS work, but also
with members of the state institute of public health. Instead of the vast
differences in poverty levels between countries like Nicaragua and Germany,
similar challenges could be discovered and discussed in developing health
projects in an urban health perspective without pushing the people into the
traditional role of objects of welfare, but supporting their development
into community activists.
After that,
David Sanders could welcome an old friend in a seminar for students of the
faculty of health sciences at the Bielefeld university: Oliver Razum, newly
appointed professor for International Health in Bielefeld and organizer of
this seminar about the perspectives of the concept of Primary Health Care in
the globalized world of today, first met David in the 80ths in Zimbabwe
after the independence. This encounter was crucial in the following
professional and personal development of the then young German medical
doctor and gave now way to a long chat about possible partner-contacts
between the universities of Bielefeld and Cape Town.
The next
day, young and not-so young health professionals assembled in a community
centre in one of the districts of Frankfurt, medical students and the
professor emeritus for medical sociology, Physicians against Nuclear War and
the “democratic doctors”, the progressive faction of the Doctors Chamber’s,
to hear Maria Zuniga’s breath-taking story of the “political health” of the
Primary Health Care in Central America. A health concept focussing on the
living conditions of poor, marginalized and excluded people in the rural and
urban areas and thus contributing to overcoming the oligarchic and
dictatorial powers ruling these countries. A story that is Maria’s own as
well, starting with the decision of a young US-American woman to work in
Guatemala in the 60ths in health promotion in backward rural areas and not
closing today with the new health challenges in the globalized metropolises
of the central American region like AIDS, violence and drugs.
It became
quite clear, that such a work is today not less political then thirty years
before: the privatisation in Health Care and the regional and global
neoliberal trade agreements like CAFTA (Central American Free Trade
Agreement) or the Patent rules of the WTO has massive effects on the access
to health for people without “consumer power”. Consequently, protest and
resistance against such perils must globalise, too, as the PHM is part of.
Beside
these public events – another one was organized in Bonn together with
activists against the dangers of genetic engineering – some meetings gave
our guests in addition the opportunity to listen more and learn about the
realities in Germany.
Two visits
at the city office for multiculturalism in Frankfurt and the Berlin
independent office for medical Aid for refugees were specifically fruitful.
The topic Migration and Health were exposed from two quite different
perspectives: the long term strategies of the city office to sensitize
public institutions for the specific realities, needs and potentials of
migrants in Frankfurt and the political and practical work of a project to
secure health care for illegalized migrants in Berlin.
These two
aspects of the week with our guests continued on our way to Berlin to the
conference during a short stop at the Department of Social and Health
Sciences in the University of Magdeburg. The Exchange about learning
concepts for community oriented health promotion in Central America, South
Africa and Europe did not limited it’s scope to academic spaces, but exposed
the importance of taking Health Movements into account – no wonder, the
Professor for Health Promotion and Community Health, Eberhard Göpel, was one
of the founding members of the West-German “Health Movement” during the
beginning of the 80ths, that struggled already against a medical-focussed
and de-politicised approach to health.
Such
surprising rediscovering and re-encounters were without doubt highlights of
this journey in Germany, and showed the potential of these meetings.
Looking
beyond the limits of its own society inspires the critical reflection not
only of the current problems, but also of old experiences and their
usefulness for the present: Nobody pointed that out more clearly and
accurately as the grand old Director General Emeritus of WHO, Halfdan
Mahler, who took us during our conference in Berlin on a tour de force
through the history of the WHO.
He
exemplified on one hand the enormous significance of the small projects of
community health in central America in the 60ths, where Maria Zuniga had
contributed, to the policy formulation at the international level: that led
to the development of the “revolutionary” concept of Primary Health Care,
that reflected the political, economical and social determinants of health.
On the
other hand, Halfdan Mahler insisted that this obviously unfulfilled concept
needs to be the basis of any comprehensive understanding of Health and Ill
health; otherwise Health Promotion and Health Care will be reduced to
technical fixes that will not be more than curing the symptoms of
pathological structures or even worse: covering up of the continuous social
and economical inequities in ill health and death.
This
contribution of the PHM gave a strong input not only in this conference on
Poverty and Health and a lot of participants mentioned the importance of
this global view on Health. Surely, this week has started a process of
rethinking the perspective of a People’s Health Movement in Germany. We at
medico international will contribute further in this.
Andreas Wulf
Medico International
March 2005
PHA/PHM ADVOCACY INITIATIVE
Europe 28th April 12th May 2002
Drs'. Ravi and Thelma Narayan, CHC/PHA (Bangalore, India)
IAHP a collaborating organisation. - www.healthp.org
Norway: Gunnar Kvale: gunnar.kvale@cih.uib.no
Sweden: Hans Roseling: Hans.Rosling@phs.ki.se
Denmark: Line Gisselmann: giss@mdb.ku.dk
Netherlands Rens Rutten: Rens.Rutten@cordaid.nl
Germany: Nina Urwantzoff: urwantzf@misereor.de
(A) PHA ADVOCACY TOUR (EUROPE)
29th April 2002 - Monday
9 am to 3 pm (Lunch 12.00 13.00)
Workshop: Globalization, The Medical Market and Peoples Health .
Centre for International Health, University of Bergen, Armauer Hansen Building
(Haukeland Hospital).
30th April 2002 - Tuesday
9 am 5 pm Workshop -Globalization, The Medical Market and Peoples Health (continues)
Background. Book One and Five of PHA India.
Contact Person: Dr. Gunnar Kvale, Professor Director. gunnar.kvale@cih.uib.no
2nd May 2002 - Thursday
*Participation in HIV/AIDS Course
*Discussion with TB Research Group at Centre for International Health, Bergen.
3rd May 2002 - Friday
3.30 5.30 pm
PHA Meeting Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Sweden)
Contact: Prof. Hans Rosling Hans.Rosling@phs.ki.se
6th May 2002 - Monday
PHA meeting: Copenhagen (Denmark)- Organized by International Medical Co-operation Committee of Danish Medical Students International
Association.
Contact Person: Line gisselmann@yahoo.dk
or giss@mdb.ku.dk
7th May 2002 - Tuesday
PHA Meeting : The Hague (The Netherlands) organized by Cordaid
12.00 14.00 Meeting with Cordaid staff and Dutch Organizations on PHA.
14.15 16.00 Discussions on WHA PHA event in Geneva and issues of concern for Dutch Organizations
Contact Person: Mrs. Rens Rutten Health Policy Co-ordinator, Cordaid. rens.rutten@cordaid.nl
8th May 2002 - Wednesday
3 5 pm. PHA Meeting: Aachen (Germany) organized by Misereor.
Contact Person: Dr. Nina Urwantzoff. urwantzf@misereor.de
9/11th May 2002
Tentative
Probable meeting with medico international and others at Frankfurt
* Meeting with Bukopharma campaigners, Bielfeld (Germany)
* Meeting in WHO office - Bonn (Germany) (? 10:00 am - 11th May)
(B) PHA WEEK AT WHO-WHA
13th May 2002 - Monday
*Attend Inauguration of World Health Assembly.
*WHO-CSI Briefing of NGOs 9.30 12.30 p.m.
* Preliminary planning meeting of PHA/PHM members attending the WHO WHA
( Venue will be announced) Meeting will be around 4:00pm
14th May 2002 - Tuesday
* NGO Forum for Health WHA session
* Symposium: Partnership in Action for Health (RN is a panelist)
16th May 2002 - Thursday
PHA GENEVA GET TOGETHER- World council of Churches, Geneva
9:30 - 5:00 pm
*Sharing from many parts of the world
*Strategy planning session
17th May 2002 - Friday
WHO- CSI Facilitated Technical Briefing session is collaboration with PHM at WHA
Theme: The Peoples Health Charter.
Panelists: Dr. Zafarullah (Bangladesh)
Dr. Ravi (India) Ms. Mwajuma (Tanzania), Ms. Maria Zunega (Nicaragua), Ellen
(The Nethrlands), and others.
In addition
* PHM Lobbying with WHA Delegates.
* Informal discussions among PHM participants to WHA
