People's Health Assembly 2000:
a resounding success - News Brief # 5
People's Health Assembly 2000:
a resounding success - News Brief # 5
Asia | Arab
Countries | The Americas | Australia |
Europe
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Two years in the making and mere five days of beehive activity and the Assembly convened
and launched its grand beginning. Surpassing all expectations, we finally had
almost 1,500 participants from 94 countries in attendance. Nobody was let down: the
program lived up to everybody’s expectations. There was energy in the air and participation
was very active. The mornings’ program covered 5 main topics: Health, Life and
Well-being, Inequality, Poverty and Health, Health Care and Health Services (for the
poor), Environment and Survival, and the Ways Forward. For each topic, people from all
over the world presented testimonials illustrating concrete cases of both oppression and
successful people’s organizations. A microphone remained always open in the plenary
session floor for people to react in any way they wanted to any of the presenters’
points…and it was used profusely…
The afternoons saw the unfolding of over 100 highly participative concurrent sessions that
allowed participants to discuss much more specific issues of their immediate interest – all
of them related to a people’s perspective and outlook on the grave health problems
befalling the poor in each of their countries.
The evenings were filled with more special interest sessions, both individual and by
geographic regions, as well as with artistic performances from the world over. Stalls and
exhibitions welcomed many visitors. The days were full 16-hour days (20-hour for the
organizers) with plenty of time for community and sharing of meals by the participants. A
daily newsletter was produced every night to highlight the most salient events.
The local organization called Gonoshasthaya Kendra, our Bangladeshi host NGO in their
beautiful campus outside Dhaka, was commendable and the support by the local community
great; their women prepared and served our meals as an income generation project.
After laborious participatory reworking, participants adopted the PEOPLE’S CHARTER
FOR HEALTH. This groundbreaking manifest, together with the PHA Framework Paper
and four topical Background Papers which clearly spell out what PHA stands for can be
found in PHA website at www.phmovement.org
Of course, what counts in all of this is the ways forward. The last day of the Assembly
was totally devoted to this. The voices of over 100 participants were heard and their
suggestions recorded on six big flipcharts on stage. A sampler of some of the suggestions
includes wide dissemination of the Charter, the organization of a solid network and subnetworks
on specific issues using the website, mailing lists and e-mail list-servers, the
translation of PHA documents into many languages including simple language versions,
setting up local level people’s health watches and when needed people’s health tribunals,
continuing a publications activity starting with the proceedings of the Assembly and the
posting of a monthly newsletter on the web, etc. It is never too late to join the People’s
Health Assembly movement – either as individuals or organizations. Just drop us a line
at secretariat@phmovement.org and regularly visit our website. Claudio
Schuftan, Hanoi, aviva@netnam.vn
ASIA
Bangladesh: After the successful PHA-2000 event (4-8
December 2001) at GK, Savar, Dhaka, the PHA-Bangladesh
Chapter has been actively involved in some post-PHA
activities. Some of the activities are highlighted here. The
13-member ad-hoc committee of the PHA-Bangladesh
Chapter has been formed. Mr Sultan Mahmud, Save the
Children Australia (SCA) has been nominated as the convener
of the committee. The ad-hoc committee meeting is
being convened monthly. This committee has started to
develop a strategy paper to carry forward the People’s
Charter for Health declaration. The Bangla translation of
the People’s Charter for Health has been done. Printed
Bangla version will be disseminated among the members of
the PHA-Bangladesh Chapter and others. PROSHIKHA
proposed adding the Charter to literacy materials or magazines
published by it for neo-literates.
India: A post-PHA national working group meeting was
held in India from 13 to 14 January 2001. The national
working group meeting has decided that 7 April 2001 will be
observed nationally as the Health Rights Day, having the
district headquarters as the centres of activities. On this
day, the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) will be launched
formally and publicly; the final ‘People’s Charter for Health’.
‘Health Care as a Fundamental Right’ and ‘Right to Health
Information’ will be parts of the campaign. A suitable
seminar or meeting will be held at each district headquarters
and at the state level. A national policy dialogue on the
issue ‘Sex Selective Abortion’ (SSA) would be organized
from 14 to 15 April 2001 at Rohtak. Anti-AIDS drugs are
highly expensive as most of the costs are due to patents.
Indian companies can produce these drugs, as they do not
yet have to follow product patents. JSA should lobby with
Indian drug companies to produce and supply these drugs
at affordable rates. A seminar on this issue is being organized
in May 2001. Moreover, a series of policy dialogues
has been planned as JSA activities.
A meeting was held in Bangalore on the 16th February and
reflections on Kolkata and Dhaka assemblies were presented
to all the State invitees. A poster exhibition with 40
posters on the whole event from district level to Dhaka was
also organized. A special editorial written on both Kolkata
and Dhaka events and the ‘People’s Charter for Health’ was
published in the M edical National Journal of India March-April 2001 issue. WHO has inv invited Ravi Narayan, one
of our members, to give a keynote address on 25th April
2001 in Geneva and introduce the ‘People’s Charter for
Health’ at the meeting. The JSA should act as a catalyst
for district and village level monitoring of health services.
Nepal: In Nepal, the process of forming the National
Committee for Post-PHA 2000 is on. The Nepali version of
the ‘People’s Charter for Health’ has been published and it
is being disseminated to wider audience. A regional meeting
of the key NGO representatives of South Asia and
formulation of a strategic action plan at the regional and
national level are being planned. ACHAN is going to take
the lead in this regard.
Sri Lanka: In Sri Lanka, the ‘People’s Charter for
Health’ is being translated into Sinhala and Tamil languages.
A major initiative in rational drug use is seriously
being considered. A brief report is being completed.
ARAB COUNTRIES
The draft Arabic translation of the People’s Charter for
Health has been done. It is in the process of finalization.
The PHA activists in the Arab countries are holding post-PHA meetings in different Arab countries. The Union of
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC) has
been awarded the UAE Health Foundation Award for the
year 2001 by WHO. PHA sends the UPMRC hearty
congratulations on their winning the award.
THE AMERICAS
In Canada, a briefing was held in Ottawa where the participants from the PHA shared their experience with
the persons from organizations that had been involved in
earlier pre-assembly activities.
The Latin American
participants at the PHA-2000 event in Dhaka have
developed a loose e-mail network in Spanish for the
people from the region and others with interest in and
connections with Latin America. If anyone is interested,
one may contact at the following network
REDLATINOAMERICANASALUD@yahoogroups.com
Julio Monsalvo from Argentina has written two extensive
articles published in the El Medico, a publication of the
Institute for Popular Culture, which is sent to over 15,000
professionals. The articles have been also reproduced
on the Internet. In June 2001, there will be seminar on
“Globalization, Health and Development” in Ecuador,
involving persons who participated at the PHA-2000
event. The Jamaican Ministry of Health responded to
the report from the People’s Health Assembly held at
Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK), Dhaka, Bangladesh, from 4
to 8 December 2000. The Ministry has decided to collaborate
with the medical students at the University of the
West Indies Mona on staging a People’s Health Assembly
in Jamaica. The Ministry has proposed to hold this
assembly in September 2001. UWIMSA – Jamaica is
waiting on a request for collaboration from the University
of the West Indies Council before the beginning of
preliminary discussion on the Jamaica People’s Health
Assembly with the Jamaican Ministry of Health. The
involvement of the members of the IFMSA family at this
assembly is also being considered.
AUSTRALIA
The People’s Charter for Health has been placed on the Australian PBAC protest site as a key policy resource.
PBAC is a website protesting about the current hijack of
Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) of
Australia by the multinational pharmaceutical industry
(Pfizer), aided and abetted by the Federal Health Minister
of Australia. Dr Ken Harvey have been involved in
fighting changes to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which is under attack from a right-wing government
and an aggressive pharmaceutical industry. A Federal election is
coming up in Australia later this year. A PHA member in Australia
(Ken Harvey) has been working through the Australian Consumers’
Association, Public Health association and other organizations with
the aim to spread the People’s Charter for Health (PHA Charter),
philosophy and call for action. The PHA members have made some
progress in this regard. In the last two State elections, the people
have thrown out the right-wing, business-oriented, neo-liberal governments
in Western Australia and Queensland and replaced them
with Labor governments. It is expected that the same thing will
happen in the forthcoming Federal elections later this year.
EUROPE
The activities in the Europe region have cantered around 1) the
People’s Charter for Health, 2) ideas and preparations for the World
Health Assembly both this year and next, 3) building up the network,
and 4) particular work around GATS. The G8 is going to meet in
Genoa on 21 July 2001. There is a health agenda to be discussed
at this meeting. The participants of the European region are scheduled
to meet on 4th April 2001 in London to plan and develop the
strategy for post-PHA activities. Some of the country-wise activities
in Europe are mentioned below.
Belgium: Medical Aid for the Third World is building its own
websites mostly in Dutch and French. The People’s Charter for
Health in Dutch is on the website www.g3w.be
Some links to
websites in English language health and development are also
available. The NGOs Forum will be having a parallel meeting (10-20 May 2001) with the upcoming UNCTAD Conference on the Least
Developed Countries to be held from 14 to 20 May 2001 in Brussels.
Health is one of the issues at the conference mainly taken up by
Oxfam-International. The Belgian NGOs, with participation by
others, will organize solidarity activity on 12 May (Saturday) 2001 at
the Cinquantenaire park in Brussels. A successful symposium on
Health and Globalization of the Medical Aid for the Third World and
Medicine for the People, organized by Bert de Belder and Mie
Branders, was held on 3 and 4 February in Belgium. The PHA was
also discussed there.
Greece: The People’s Charter for Health has been translated into
Greek. PHA activists have been involved in the translation work
there. A public meeting was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, where
Alexis Benos spoke on Globalization, Health and the PHA. There
was an enthusiastic discussion and certain activities related to the
Charter are being planned, particularly around privatisation of health
care. The International Association for Health Policy is organizing
its 12th European Conference in London from 9 to 12 May 2001.
The Netherlands: From The Netherlands, Françoise Barten
reports that he has recommended inclusion of the People’s Charter
for Health in the literature list (obligatory) of a module in the medical
curriculum of his Faculty at the University of Njimegen. The University
has accepted his recommendation.
In 2001, the International Federation of medical Students’ Associations
(IFMSA) will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary. This IFMSA
meeting is called as the International Training Congress for Medical
Students will take place in Denmark, from 4 to 12 August 2001. Dr
Zafrullah Chowdhury of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, Bangladesh is
being invited to the meeting as a global participant. IFMSA as a
worldwide organization having local bodies in 68
countries with the potential of reaching over 1.5
million medical students, have an aim to use the
anniversary year to improve its strategies to help build
a healthier future for the local communities. The
primary goal of the anniversary meeting is to provide
an opportunity to over 550 medical students leaders
from all over the world to be trained as key human
resources. Ten parallel workshops will be offered
covering a wide range of issues. Some of the speakers
at the congress may include Reverend Desmond
Tutu and Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan.
Russia: The People’s Health Charter has been
translated into Russian and a print-run of 1,000
copies has been printed. The Russian version of
the PHA health charter was presented at a meeting
of the Women’s Health in St Petersburg. At the
meeting, 64 NGOs, Deputies of the Legislative
Assembly of St Petersburg, health care and social
authorities were present. The vice-chairman of the
Legislative Assembly is going to organize a special
hearing of the Charter at the assembly. The
participants of the meeting supported it and opposed
the depleted uranium arms anywhere. The
Russian version has been sent to UK for the
Russian-speaking people there. A video on the
PHA has been made. Now the copies of Russian
version of the Charter are being disseminated in
Russia and its former Republics.
The Ukraine: The Ukrainian version of the
People’s Charter for Health has been put on
website. It has been disseminated to 600 e-mail
addresses. Information on the PHA and its Charter
was published in three newspapers. The Ukrainian
and English versions can be sighted on the website,
www.medsoc.dp.ua . The Ukrainian NGO Net was
contacted for discussion on the People’s Charter for
Health. On 1st March 2001, Svitlana took part in
Internet discussion in the Ukrainian NGO Net about
The World Bank activities in Ukraine. She expressed
her opinion about the reconstruction of The
World Bank activity in Ukraine according to the
principles of the People’s Charter for Health.
UK: It has been learnt that Alifia Chakera is the
new Policy Officer of One World Action UK. Her
job is to introduce PHA and promote the principles
of the People’s Charter for health to decisionmaking
bodies with in the EU and UK.
PEOPLE'S CHARTER FOR HEALTH IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
The translation of the ‘People’s Charter for
Health’ in different languages of the world is
progressing successfully. So far, the Charter
has been translated into 34 major languages of
the world. Bangla translation of the Charter has
been done. The printing and dissemination of
the Bangla version is being contemplated. In
India, the Charter has been translated into 20
local languages including Hindi. Mr Venkatash
of India is making tape-version for the blind
people. Dutch, French, German, Greek, Nepali,
Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Urdu and
Ukrainian versions of the Charter have been
already done. Finnish and Swedish versions
are underway. The Charter in Japanese and
Chinese languages is in progress. In Sri Lanka,
the ‘People’s Charter for Health’ has been translated
into Sinhala and Tamil languages. The
Arabic version is in progress also. The Charter in
Spanish is being printed in two versions – one in
Mexico and the Central America with documents
from pre-assembly activities, and another in
Ecuador for post-assembly meeting in June 2001.
French version video on the PHA-2000 is now
available. Another video in English on the PHA-2000 event at GK, Dhaka, is also available. Joy
Banerjee has done it. If anyone likes to dub it in
one’s own language, one can do it and let us
know it.
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Coordinating Group of the PHA:
Asian Community Health Action Network (ACHAN);
Consumers International (CI); Dag Hammarskjold Foundation (DHF); Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK);
Health Action International - Asia Pacific (HAIAP); International People’s Health Council (IPHC);
Third World Network (TWN); Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR)
PHM Secretariat,
email: secretariat@phmovement.org
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