People's Health Movement-USA Update

Date:

10 Jul 2009

In this Update:

PHM at the 1st Annual South Los Angeles Convention on Health and Human Rights
Doctors for Global Health Annual Assembly
Summit of Progressive Physicians Organizations
PHM Global news: PHA3 task force
Upcoming International People’s Health University short courses
DC Advocacy Circle
New PHM USA Coordination group convenors and members
American Public Health Association
Trade and Health working group meets with US Trade Representative
US Social Forum
NEW PHM related publications, websites, media

1. PHM at the 1st Annual South Los Angeles Health and Human Rights Conference

In June, PHM-US endorsed and participated in a health and human rights conference in South Los Angeles, where organizers, service providers, and community residents have been mobilizing around the right to health. Laura Turiano, Sarah Shannon, Dorothy Tegeler, and Claudio Shuftan attended the conference as representatives of PHM, and participated in working groups on access to health, health care reform, environmental health, and food security. Other PHM linked groups were also represented. A diverse crowd of over 700 people--mostly members of the South LA community--attended the conference, more than twice as many as initially anticipated. There was enormous energy towards using health and human rights as a framework for true community participation, monitoring, and accountability to reduce inequities and improve health in South LA and beyond. We are awaiting the publication of the South Los Angeles Declaration of Health and Human Rights and will continue to support the movement in South LA. Congratulations to the organizers for this groundbreaking effort!

An account of the work leading up to the conference can be found at http://hhrjournal.org/blog/articles/taming-the-perfect-storm/

The conference website: http://www.southlahealthandhumanrights.org/background.html

2. Doctors for Global Health Annual Assembly, July 2009

"Global Impacts of Local Action: Walking the Walk at Home and Abroad"

Keynote address:
Father Roy Bourgeois, M.M., Founder of the School of the Americas Watch
David Hilfiker, Author of Not All of Us Are Saints (invited).

Place: The George Washington University, Washington, DC
Dates: Fri. July 31: 2 local tours (details TBA), 1pm-5pm.
Sat. Aug 1: GA begins at 7:30am with continental breakfast.
Sun. Aug 2: 2nd day of GA; ends at 5pm.

Who should attend: ALL who advocate for health, human rights, and social justice (e.g. clinical professionals, community/public health professionals, community workers and organizers, students)

Doctors for Global Health is pleased to invite you to the 14th Annual DGH General Assembly (GA), which will be held in the nation's capital. This participatory event is an opportunity to come together and meet others working to advance health and human rights. It's a time to learn, support one another, have fun and re-energize yourself to continue working for social justice in your own community and around the world.

Come early on Friday the 31st to visit some inspiring local projects (details TBA). Friday night will be a welcoming fundraiser and silent auction. The conference runs Saturday-Sunday and includes many great speakers and panel discussions.

We look forward to seeing you in DC!

Cost: Developed Country Sliding Scale: Registration by July 1*: US$180-350; Local Tours: US$15. (Registration fee includes conference, breakfast and lunch Saturday/Sunday, dinner/social event Saturday night, and Friday/Saturday night lodging at GWU. If you live in the area and do not need lodging, the sliding scale is $110-$280).

A note about our sliding scale: Please consider making a payment above the minimum if you are able. Break-even costs are about $200 per person. Higher donations are greatly appreciated and allow us to pay for travel costs of international partners. Any amount above $200 is tax-deductible.

Student Scholarships available: If you are a student interested in our work and cannot afford to pay the full registration, you may be eligible for a Sandy Kemp Scholarship. E-mail us for more information.

Register Now at http://www.dghonline.org/RegistrationForm.html
Doctors for Global Health Website: www.dghonline.org <http://www.dghonline.org/>
Have a Question? E-mail Us! dghinfo@dghonline.org

On the day before the GA -
Medicare: Made in America – DC Lobby Day and Rally
July, 30th, 2009, Washington, DC

Celebrate Medicare’s 44th Birthday by showing Congress and President Obama the people, unions, doctors, nurses, seniors, faith groups, and Americans of every stripe support a single-payer system.

Schedule
Rally starts at 1 pm - 2 pm in the Upper Senate Park
9am - 11:30 am Volunteers needed for morning drop to all Members of Congress. Meet in Room 2138 Judiciary Committee Room of Rayburn House Building for materials to deliver to every member of Congress! Email info@healthcare-now.org if you plan to help with the morning lobby visits.
2pm onward - Activists will take to the hill for meetings with Members of Congress. If you need help in setting up a meeting with your Member, please email info@healthcare-now.org. Lobby materials will be available in the Judiciary Committee Room for pick up on the day of the meetings.

If you will be at this rally, please email phm@turiano.org.

3. Summit of Progressive Physicians Organizations

The day after the South LA Conference on Health and Human Rights, the Summit of Progressive Physician Organizations convened leaders of 15 advocacy groups, at Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The goal of the Summit was to help some of the nation's leading physician-based advocacy groups refashion the way in which they work together and make measurable progress towards a shared vision of a more just, healthy world.

PHM-linked people in attendance were: Helen Potts and Jirair Ratevosian from Physicians for Human Rights, Jyoti Puvvula, Advocacy Council for Doctors for Global Health, Steve Tarzynski, program Advisor for Health Alliance International and member of Physicians for a National Health program, Vic Sidel from Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Albert Einstein College Department of Family and Social Medicine, and Laura Turiano from PHM USA (a “special guest” since PHM is not a physician organization). The 15 physician groups represented also included National Physicians Alliance, Doctors for America, National Doctors Alliance-SEIU, Committee for Interns and Residents-SEIU, Association of Clinicians for the Underserved, DemDocs, TruthAIDS, Academic Pediatric Association. Other special guest organizations included National Health Law Program, and St. John Well Child and Family Centers.

Although the groups in the room all considered themselves “progressive”, there was a wider range of the political spectrum represented than was openly acknowledged. The groups also worked on too many different issues and with different perspectives to form a coalition around one issue. One main division was between the groups linked to the Democratic party, the Obama presidential campaign and SEIU, and most of the other groups. The former either don’t support single payer/Medicare for All, or have given up on it, and are only working on ensuring a strong public option in any health care reform legislation. The latter are still working for single payer as the best solution and are skeptical that even a strong public option will pass or be set up in a way that comes close to fulfilling the goals of universal access to care and cost containment.

Nevertheless, the groups agreed that many of them shared common general interests such as the right to health/health equity, health reform, global health and violence prevention/anti-war. Rather than create one single coalition or advance one area of interest over another, a network or confederation approach was proposed to facilitate the formation of effective issue-based coalitions and partnerships, and to increase the effectiveness of organizations, as individual entities and as members of these naturally evolving coalitions. The groups will be working to further develop this idea over the next several months.

PHM is interested in any input members might have about our role in this network since we were invited as guests and we are not a physician organization.

If you would like more details about the network or are a member of a physician-based organization that would like to participate, please contact phm@turiano.org.

4. PHA3 task force

A task force is working on the form of the Third People’s Health Assembly to be held in 2011. Alternatives to flying everyone to Cape Town for one global meeting are under consideration. If you have suggestions for how to conduct a more geographically spread out assembly process, or have ideas about resources to support the Third People's Health Assembly, please contact Sarah Shannon: sarahs@hesperian.org .

5. Upcoming International People’s Health University short courses

PHM and IPHU are pleased to announce the upcoming IPHU courses in India (September 21-30, 2009), Morocco (September 21-30, 2009) and Cuba (November 4-14, 2009). For details and registration, go to http://phmovement.org/iphu/. US health activists are encouraged to attend.

The International People’s Health University (IPHU) is one of the major programs of the People’s Health Movement. IPHU is a global university providing short courses and other resources for health activists. Courses are of a high academic standard and are documented for academic credit from established universities. IPHU short courses enable younger health activists, in particular, to make new connections, share experiences and study together. IPHU short courses strengthen the global network of people’s health activists.

Morocco - http://phmovement.org/iphu/en/morocco, in French and Arabic, Fes, Morocco
India - http://phmovement.org/iphu/en/bangalore/announcement, in English, Bangalore. This course is focused on Health and Equity.
Cuba - http://www.phmovement.org/iphu/en/CubaAnnounce, in Spanish and English, Havana

6. DC Advocacy Circle

We have continued to discuss the idea of increasing the effectiveness and power of progressive civil society groups and NGOs in their advocacy activities in the beltway through the creation of some kind of a DC Advocacy circle. Many people have expressed that it is difficult to establish such a group without identifying a common advocacy agenda or issue. However, there are many specific issues that potential participants already work on, so finding a common issue is almost impossible. On the other hand, some see this circle as a network or confederation that would make it easier for groups with shared principles to work together and support each other without losing the identity or expertise of each organization. We’d like to hear from people who are interested in working on this – especially if you are in DC.

7. New PHM USA Coordination group convenors and members

PHM US is coordinated by a group of individuals and organization representatives who are committed to building the movement for health for all and who are actively promoting PHM. For the past year and a half, Ian Warthin from Partners in Health has served as the convenor, the person who schedules our quarterly conference calls and makes the call agendas. We thank Ian for taking on this responsibility and look forward to continuing to work with him in the future. Meredith Fort, Emily DeRiel and Wendy Johnson of Health Alliance International have agreed to be the new convenors. If you would like to be a part of this group of PHM activists, please contact phm@hesperian.org.

8. American Public Health Association, Philadelphia, November 2009

As usual, PHM will have a presence at the APHA conference and we will have some kind of gathering. Meredith is compiling a list of PHM attendees and presentations, so let her know if you will be there or if you have a presentation to recommend at meredithfort@yahoo.com.

9. Trade and Health working group meets with US Trade Representative

PHM, along with other civil society groups met with US Trade Representative Ron Kirk on intellectual property and access to medicines issues on May 19, 2009. While it was difficult to convey the nuances of our agenda and platform in 45 minutes, it was great opportunity to meet the Ambassador and key staff in person, and let them know that there is a large community of public interest voices that is concerned about how U.S. trade policy impacts access to medicines, and that we would like to work with them to alter these policies. Vineeta Gupta represented PHM at the meeting – Thanks Vineeta!

From Inside U.S. Trade - 5/22/2009
NGOs Press USTR To Extend May 10 Deal On IPR To All Trade Pacts

Representatives from 27 civil society groups this week pressed U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and other senior USTR officials to adopt policies that ensure adequate access to medicines in developing countries and transparency in trade policy-making, according to informed sources.

As a starting point, USTR should extend the public health flexibilities in the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement to existing, pending and future bilateral and regional free trade agreements, the groups recommended in the May 19 meeting. This is one of several proposals on the list of consensus recommendations they presented to USTR.

...Other recommendations urge USTR to refrain from implementing or enforcing provisions in existing, pending and future trade agreements that are more stringent than those found in the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). For example, NGOs argue that data exclusivity provisions in trade deals negotiated by the U.S. go beyond the TRIPS agreement. Data exclusivity is the term for which an original patent holder is permitted to withhold test data that might otherwise be used by drug regulatory authorities to establish the safety and efficacy of a generic version of a patented medicine for approval and use in a country.

...The groups also urged USTR to be more transparent and ensure fair representation for public health advocates on federal advisory committees. One NGO source in an interview expressed support for a bill introduced by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) earlier this month that would require the creation of a Public Health Advisory Committee on Trade within the existing trade advisory committee system.

The meeting focused primarily on a presentation of the recommendations from the civil society groups,which had spent considerable effort coming up with a list they could all endorse. The USTR officials were mostly in "listening mode" and next steps in this process are unclear at this time, sources said.... Among the civil society groups participating were Oxfam America, Essential Action, Center for Policy Analysis on Trade andHealth, and Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), according to informed sources... -- Jamie Strawbridge

Sign on to ask reps to co-sponsor H.R. 2293, the Public Health Trade Advisory Committee Act mentioned above. Introduced by Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), the legislation amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require that a Public Health Advisory Committee on Trade (PHACT) be added to the influential Second Tier of the Federal Trade Advisory Committee System.

Global trade agreements increasingly affect the public's health, from the price of medicines to industrial farms that breed disease and the safety of water supplies. The Government Accountability Office and the Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health (CPATH) have documented the absence of public health representation on U.S. trade advisory committees. Advisors from health-related industries including pharmaceuticals, tobacco, processed foods, alcohol beverage and health insurance have had exclusive access to government trade negotiators.

For additional background and to sign on, please see: http://www.cpath.org/id4.html

10. US Social Forum

The next US Social Forum will be held in Detroit, Michigan on June 22-26, 2010. If PHM US is going to participate we need to start planning now. At the last USSF in Atlanta, PHM presented a week long International People’s Health University course and several workshops on topics including the right to water and trade and health. PHM affiliated individuals from Atlanta worked on the local organizing committee. PHM global serves on the World Social Forum International Council. How should we participate this year?

Please read the web site at http://www.ussf2010.org/. If you are interested in participating at the USSF with PHM, please contact phm@hesperian.org.

“The US Social Forum is a movement building process. It is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our struggle to build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sectoral, inter-generational, diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country, and changes history. We must declare what we want our world to look like and we must start planning the path to get there. The USSF provides spaces to learn from each other’s experiences and struggles, share our analysis of the problems our communities face, build relationships, and align with our international brothers and sisters to strategize how to reclaim our world.

WHY A 2ND US SOCIAL FORUM?

The gathering in Atlanta in June 2007 had 12,000 people come together in the belief that “Another World Was Possible!” Movement forces from all over the country took advantage of the opportunity to celebrate, organize, teach, debate and otherwise contribute to a growing sense that “Another U.S. Was Necessary!” The USSF made it clear our need for greater convergence among progressives and the left in this country and to begin to articulate our vision for “Another World.”

The purpose of the USSF is to effectively and affirmatively articulate the values and strategies of a growing and vibrant movement for justice in the United States. Those who build towards and participate in the USSF are no longer interested in simply stating what social justice movements “stand-against,” rather we see ourselves as part of new movements that reach beyond national borders, that practice democracy at all levels, and understand that neo-liberalism abroad and here in the US is not the solution. The USSF provides a first major step towards such articulation of what we stand for.”

11. NEW PHM related publications, websites, media

In Issue 12 of The Broker (http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/en) the Special Report on ‘Health for all,’ by Françoise Barten, Ted Schrecker and David Woodward, reviewed three recent and authoritative reports revealing that there is a general consensus among health experts on a need for significant change in global health policy. Following on from this, The Broker is hosting an online debate with contributions from experts and specialists asking: is there support for such change? What does this new approach imply for the daily practice of health care? and who should take responsibility? You’ll recognize many of the contributors. http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/en/Debate/Health-for-all

Economic Governance for Health (EG4H, http://www.eg4health.org) is a global grassroots coalition that aims to mobilize thousands of health workers and global health advocates to speak out and act on global economic governance. The current financial crisis threatens the health and health systems of billions of people around the world. The critical links between economics and health have never been clearer, or more urgent. The first aim of EG4H is to mobilise the authority and legitimacy of thousands of health workers and global health advocates to speak out and act on global economic governance. It is not enough to campaign on diseases or sector-specific issues such as health financing or the price of medicines. We have to also address the social, political and economic determinants of poverty, injustice and corruption.The second aim is to support and encourage the international public health community to work with the community of experts and advocates who are tackling the issues of unjust, ineffective and ecologically-damaging global economic governance. This is also important because ‘global health’ provides a critical platform for shaping economic policy and governance. For example, trade policies and agreements that better serve health ‘goals’ are more likely to reduce poverty levels and less likely to aggravate inequality and global warming. Similarly, a transport policy that promotes exercise and physical activity would not just promote health but also reduce the effects of transport on global warming.But we will not achieve these and other goals without more democratic and accountable global institutions. EG4Health has been established to enable the global community of health workers to support and promote this reform agenda.

We would like to add a list of individuals and organizations who make up PHM in the US to the new website. Please send information to be included to phm@hesperian.org (for organizations, we would like to list name, location, and a link to your website).

The PHM entry on Wikipedia has been expanded but could still use some more details if anyone is interested in adding to the article. It helps if the contributors don’t have an obvious link to the organization so they don’t appear to have a “conflict of interest.” Please take a look at it and see if there is something you can add - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Health_Movement.

And don’t forget – you can use the PHM USA listserv - phmusa@lists.riseup.net - to announce your events, respond to this update, and share anything you think would be of interest to US PHMers.