Welcome Address: Qasem Chowdhury - Stories - People's Health Assembly - December 2000
Welcome to the People’s Health Assembly AND
Welcome to Bangladesh
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That we have all been able to gather here today for this historic event is the result of years of hard and determined work by many. It is the product of the collective energy and effort of health activists from all around the world. Only a small fraction of all those who have been involved in the thousands of village meetings, district level workshops and national gatherings that have been integral to the preparatory process for this Assembly are here today. Participants from 92 countries should have arrived by now. Every one of us who is here carries the responsibility to take back the resolutions and spirit from this Assembly to our communities.
The People’s Health Assembly 2000 is the culmination of events and processes that have taken place in a hundred countries around the globe where basic issues of people’s health and well being have been discussed, the obstacles to achieving health for all have been analysed, and ways forward have been identified.
We gather here today at a defining moment in the history of public health. On the one hand problems of the 19th century are still with us and on the other hand problem of the 21st century are upon us. This is compounded by negative forces of globalisation which prevent the equitable distribution of resources with regard to the health of people and especially the poor. History shows that fifty years of centralised planning of health care has only deepened the chasm between the rich and the poor, those who can afford and those who cannot. The study of this history shows that the root of the problem lies in the fact that we have failed to place people and their needs and priorities at the center of planning.
PHA 2000 is a beginning in this direction. It is a small step but when we take into consideration the involvement of literally millions across the globe in this process, we are left not with despair but with hope.
The goal of the PHA process and the Assembly itself is to strengthen the linkages among ourselves and build an international health movement where the goals of Health for all will regain its rightful place on the development agenda, and the achievement of this goal will be pursued with renewed vigour and commitment.
The theme of the Assembly is “to hear the unheard”. The preparatory process has made every effort to include the voices of those who have always been excluded. The Assembly provides an opportunity for all of us to listen to those voices and to become one with their struggles. Let us all ensure that these voices remain in the forefront of our own agenda and continue to inform the drafting of the people’s Charter for Health. The declaration of the Charter will be but one step in making these voices heard by policy makers, governments and international organisations.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for being here today, for your patience and understanding with all the difficulties you may have experienced with the arrangements here. These arrangements have been made under severe resource constraints and limitations. I would like to thank Gonoshasthaya Kendra and all my colleagues and fellow workers who have worked tirelessly to try and make your stay here both meaningful and comfortable. Finally, I want to acknowledge here the tremendous support and assistance the Assembly has received from the Government of Bangladesh.
This is the beginning of what promises to be an intense week of discussion, debate and deliberation. The next five days all of us have to work hard and the programme schedule will make sure that we do. Let us not, however, forget to also enjoy being here with each other, to share the trials and tribulations that we have faced in the past and to look forward to a new beginning in the knowledge that we are not alone in our struggle and in the building of a new world of justice and equality. Let us also bask in the smiles and sounds of each other and take a moment now and then to enjoy the beautiful environment that this setting offers.
I thank you all once again.
Qasem Chowdhury
Coordinator
PHA Secretariat
Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh
