In preparation of People's Health Assembly II - part 8
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(final)
The People's Health Assembly itself was an unusual international
health meeting expressing and symbolizing an alternative health
and development culture of dialogue and celebration.
Another significant gain has been the translation of the Peo-
ple's Charter for Health into over 40 languages worldwide. These
include Arabic, Bangla, Chinese, Danish, English, Farsi, Fin-
nish, Flemish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Ital-
ian, Japanese, Kannada, Malayalam, Ndebele, Nepalese, Tagalo,
Portuguese, Russian, Shona, Sinhala, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish,
Tamil, Urdu, Ukrainian and now in the process in Tongan, Lithua-
nian, Norwegian, Welsh ,Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Pastun,
Dhari and Creole. An audio tape in English with Braille titles
is also available. All these have been translated by volunteers,
committed to the People's Health Movement.
Audio Visual aids including videos for public education, exhibi-
tions, slides, and other forms of communication are now also
available. The BBC Life Series video on "The Health Protesters"
was a good example.
The Movement itself has evolved a communications strategy which
includes a website (www.phmovement.org ); the e-list server
group for exchange and discussion (pha-exchange@kabissa,org);
news briefs (nine since January 2001) and a host of press re-
leases on a wide variety of themes and on special events and
crises.
Presentations of the Peoples Health Charter, are constantly tak-
ing place in national, regional and international fora which
have included the World Health Organization, the Global Forum
for Health Research (GFHR - Forum 5 & 6) and the World Health
Assembly. The development of a standing relationship between the
PHM and WHO is particularly promising.
In April 2001, the very effective and assertive in-house lobby-
ing by a visiting PHM Consultant to a WHO research seminar re-
sulted in the formation of the WHO Civil Society Initiative an-
nounced at the World Health Assembly, in May 2001. Six PHM lead-
ers were invited to meet and dialogue with the Director General.
By May 2002, the WHO's CSI invited PHM to present the People's
Charter for Health as a Technical Briefing in the World Heath
Assembly. 35 PHM members participated. In May 2003, over 80 PHM
delegates from 30 countries attended the Assembly; made state-
ments on Primary Health Care; TRIPS and other issues and were
invited to meet the DG designate, who welcomed a greater dia-
logue with PHM members at all levels so that WHO could be in
touch with the realities of the lives of the poor and the mar-
ginalized.
The Assembly was preceded by a PHM Geneva meeting for the 25th
Alma Ata Anniversary, which was attended by some WHO staff, in-
cluding the PAHO Regional Director. These are all small, but in-
cremental movements towards a critical collaboration of PHM with
WHO!
In many countries of the world, emerging country level PHM cir-
cles are beginning to organize public meetings and campaigns
which include taking health to the streets as a Rights issue.
Discussions on the charter by professional associations and pub-
lic health schools, articles and editorials in medical/health
journals are also beginning to increase.
Policy dialogues and 'action research circles' on WHO/WHA; pov-
erty and AIDS; women's access to heath; health research; access
to essential drugs; macroeconomics and health; public-private
partnerships; food and nutrition security issues are beginning
their work.
In short, every day the list of follow-up actions increases.
Conclusion
To conclude, the People's Health Assembly and the People's
Health Movement that emerged from it have been a rather unprece-
dented development in the journey towards the 'Health for All'
goal. The movement:
* encompasses a multi-regional, multi-cultural, and multi-
disciplinary mobilization effort;
* is bringing together the largest gathering of activists and
professionals, civil society representatives and the peoples
representatives themselves,
* is working on global instruments to raise concern and the
level of concrete actions, and
* is involved in solidarity with the health struggles of people,
especially the poor and the marginalized affected by the current
global economic order.
Recognizing that we need to carry out a continuous, sustained,
collective effort, the People's Health Movement process, through
the People's Health Charter, reminds us that a long road lies
ahead in the campaign for Health for All-Now!
References:
1. WHO - UNICEF (1978), Primary Health Care, Report of the In-
ternational Conference on Primary Health Care, 6-12 September,
1978, Alma Ata - USSR.
2. People's Health Movement (2002), Voices of the Unheard - Tes-
timonies from the People's Health Assembly, December 2000, GK
Savar - Bangladesh.
3. People's Health Assembly (2000a), People's Charter for
Health, People's Health Assembly, 8 December 2000, GK Savar -
Bangladesh.
4. Schuftan, Claudio (2002), The People's Health Movement (PHM)
in 2002: Still at the fore front of the Struggle for "Health for
All Now"; issue paper-2 for World Health Assembly, May 2002,
People's Health Movement
5. People's Health Assembly (2000b), Discussion papers prepared
by PHA Drafting group, PHA Secretariat, GK Savar, Dhaka -
Bangladesh
6. People's Health Assembly (2000c), Health in the era of Glob-
alization, From victims to protagonists - A discussion paper by
PGA Drafting group, PHA Secretariat, GK Savar, Dhaka - Bangla-
desh.
7. Narayan, Ravi (2000), The People's Health Assembly - A Peo-
ple's Campaign for Health for All Now, Asian Exchange Vol. 16,
NO. 2., P-6-17, 2000
8. Werner, David and Sanders, David (2000), Liberation from
What? A Critical reflection on the People's Health Assembly
2000, Asian Exchange, Vol. 16, No. 2., p 18-30, 2000