Global Health Watch Newsletter 4, September 2004
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GLOBAL HEALTH WATCH
Mobilising Civil Society around an Alternative World Health Re-
port
GHW Update 4 - September 2004
Welcome to our fourth edition!
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ested in the GHW TO RECEIVE PERIODICAL UPDATES:
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HOT TOPIC - WATCHING WHO
The Global Health Watch will not just examine global health
policies - it will also look at the performance of those insti-
tutions charged with responsibility for health worldwide. The
Watch has therefore commissioned work on the World Health Or-
ganisation, looking at its core functions, relationships with
other organisations and management.
Strengthening the WHO's mandate
Prof. Ilona Kickbusch, formerly Director of Health Promotion at
the WHO, recently outlined a vision of a strengthened WHO.
Amongst other recommendations, she has called for an organisa-
tion that has:
* Constitutional capability to ensure agenda coherence in global
health;
* Power to take countries to the international court for crimes
against humanity if they clearly refuse to take action based on
the best public health evidence and knowledge.
WHO's past record on regulation of drugs, tobacco and infant
feeding suggests it has an important role to play as the "health
conscience" of the world. But given the multiplicity of actors
in today's global health arena is it ever really likely to have
the authority that Prof. Kickbusch hopes for.
WHO has other roles to play in surveillance, technical assis-
tance and country co-operation. We want to hear your views on
the usefulness of WHO, and how it could be made more valuable at
country and global levels. Please write to ghw@medact.org.
The link to Prof. Kickbusch's full article is:
http://www.ilonakickbusch.com/public-health/publichealthinteh21st.pdf
NEWS FROM THE GHW - First two chapters' draftsare ready!
We are very excited to announce that the drafts for the chapters
"Militarism and conflict" by Vic Sidel (IPPNW) and "The right to
food: Land, agriculture and household food security" by Michael
Chopra (Univ. Western Cape) have been submitted and are now be-
ing revised. Here is a taste of some of the contents:
90 percent of deaths during selected wars in the 1990s were
among civilians, primarily women and children. For example, in
the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it has been
reliably estimated that there have been approximately three mil-
lion civilian deaths.
Many people survive wars, only to be physically scarred for
life. For example, in Cambodia one in 236 people is an amputee
as a result of a landmine explosion.
War and conflict destroy the infrastructure that supports social
well-being and health. For example, during Gulf War I and the 12
years of economic sanctions that followed, an estimated 350,000
to 500,000 children died, with most of these deaths related to
destruction of the infrastructure of civilian society: health-
care facilities, electricity-generating plants, food-supply sys-
tems, water-treatment and sanitation facilities, and transporta-
tion and communication systems.
The number of chronically hungry people has increased by over 18
million since 1995- 1997. This means that about 18% of the
world's population is currently hungry.
The number of undernourished people has increased by 4.5 million
per year during the second half of the last decade.
The growth in the number of people suffering from hunger, food
insecurity and undernutrition is occurring despite the fact that
food production has doubled in the past 40 years, as has produc-
tion per capita. Analysis therefore requires an understanding
not just of who and how many are suffering from hunger but also
focuses on people's ability to access food, rather than just
food production or supply.
GET YOUR VOICE HEARD IN THE GHW!
We have received many enquiries from people and organisations
eager to get involved by submitting accounts of their local, na-
tional and regional experiences. In order to make that possible
we have put together a set of guidelines, which are now avail-
able on the GHW Website http://www.ghwatch.org. See below for
examples of the issues we are looking for:
Examples of policies/ actions to secure an equitable access to
health care.
Examples of effective, efficient and inclusive public health
care systems.
Evidence showing the effects of commercialised health care on
professional ethics.
Good and bad practices of donors on public health stewardship
and on the performance of health care systems.
Submit your case studies and get your voice in the GHW!