In preparation of People's Health Assembly II - part 2
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The People's Health Assembly
The Global People's Health Assembly brought together 1,450 peo-
ple from 92 countries, and resulted in an unusual five-day event
in which grassroots people shared their concerns about the un-
fulfilled 'Health for All' challenge. The Assembly's programme
included a variety of interactive dialogue opportunities for all
health professionals and activists who gathered for this sig-
nificant event. These fora included:
* a rally for Health for All - Now!
* meetings in which the testimonies on the health situation from
many parts of the world and the struggles of people were shared
and commented upon by multidisciplinary resource groups; (Peo-
ple's Health Movement 2002);
* parallel workshops to discuss a range of health and health-
related challenges;
* cultural programmes to symbolize the multi-cultural and multi-
ethnic diversity of the people of the world;
* exhibitions and video/film shows; and
* an abundance of dialogue, in small and big groups, using for-
mal and informal opportunities.
The People's Health Assembly was preceded by a long series of
pre-assembly events all over the world. The most exceptional of
these was the mobilization in India. For nearly nine months pre-
ceding the Assembly, there were grassroots, local and regional
initiatives of people's health enquiries and audits; sensitiza-
tion including health songs and popular theatre; sub-districts
and district level seminars; policy dialogues and translations
of national consensus documents on health into regional lan-
guages, as well as campaigns to challenge medical professionals
and the health system to become more Health-for-All-oriented.
Finally, over 2000 delegates travelled to Kolkata (Calcutta),
mostly riding on five converging people's health trains; here,
they brought their ideas and felt needs first elaborated in
17state and 250 district conventions. In Kolkata, after two days
of conferences, parallel workshops, exhibitions, two public ral-
lies for health and a myriad of cultural programmes, the Assem-
bly endorsed the Indian People's Health Charter.
About 300 delegates from this Assembly then travelled to Bangla-
desh, mostly by bus, to attend the Global Assembly. Similar pre-
paratory initiatives, though less intense, took place in Bangla-
desh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Philippines, Japan and other
parts of the world, including Latin America, Europe, Africa and
Australia.
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Claudio Schuftan
mailto:claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn