People's Health Movement (PHM): Issues in 2002
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THE PEOPLE'S HEALTH MOVEMENT (PHM) IN 2002: STILL AT THE FOREFRONT OF
THE STRUGGLE FOR 'HEALTH FOR ALL NOW'!
1. Eighteen months after the historical People's Health Assembly
(PHA) in Savar, Bangladesh, December 2000, the PHM with affiliates in
five continents, re-commits itself to its flagship document, the Peo-
ple's Health Charter (PCH).
2. The analysis made in the PCH applies to today's world every bit as
much as it did 18 months ago --only that the sense of urgency has
been hightened!
3. Our vision remains one striving for peace, equity, and an ecologi-
cally-sustainable development. We see the health crisis we described
for most countries in the world in the year 2000 to have, if any-
thing, deepened.
4. We re-commit ourselves to the "Call for Action" points made in the
PCH as they relate to actively influencing the many direct and indi-
rect determinants of health.
In a nutshell, we still stand for:
5. Combating the negative impacts of Globalization as a worldwide
economic and political ideology and process.
6. Significantly reforming the IFIs and the WTO to make them more re-
sponsive to poverty alleviation and the Health for All Now movement.
7. A forgiveness of the foreign debt of least developed countries and
use of its equivalent for poverty reduction, health and education ac-
tivities.
8. Greater checks and restraints of the freewheeling powers of trans-
national corporations, especially pharmaceutical houses (and mecha-
nisms to ensure their compliance).
9. Greater and a more equitable household food security.
10. Some type of a Tobin tax that taxes runaway international finan-
cial transfers.
11. Unconditionally supporting the emancipation of women and the re-
spect of their full rights.
12. Putting health higher in the development agenda of governments.
13. The health (and other) rights of displaced people.
14. Halting the process of privatization of public health facilities
and for greater controls of the already installed private health sec-
tor.
15. More equitable, just and empowered people's participation in
health and development matters.
16. A greater focus on poverty alleviation in national and interna-
tional development plans.
17. Greater and unconditional access of the poor to health services
and treatment regardless of their ability to pay.
18. Strengthening public institutions, political parties and trade
unions involved, as we are, in the struggle of the poor.
19. Opposing restricted and dogmatic fundamentalist views of he de-
velopment process.
20. Greater vigilance and activism in matters of water and air pollu-
tion, the dumping of toxics, waste disposal, climate changes and CO2
emissions, soil erosion and other attacks on the environment.
21. Militant opposition to the unsustainable exploitation of natural
resources and the destruction of forests.
22. Protecting biodiversity and opposing biopiracy and the indis-
criminate use of genetically modified seeds.
23. Holding violators of environmental crimes accountable.
24. Systematically applying environmental assessments of development
projects and people-centered environmental audits.
25. Opposing war and the current USA-led, blind 'anti-terrorist' cam-
paigns.
26. Categorically opposing the Israeli invasion of Palestinian towns
(having, among other, a sizeable negative impact on the health of the
Palestinian people).
27.The democratization of the UN bodies and especially of the Secu-
rity Council.
28. Getting more actively involved in actions addressing the silent
epidemic of violence against women.
29. More prompt responses and preventive/rehabilitative measures in
cases of natural disasters.
30. Making a renewed call for a comprehensive, more democratic PHC
that is given the resources needed --holding governments accountable
in this task.
31. Vehemently opposing the commoditization and privatization of
health care (and the sale of public facilities).
32. Independent national drug policies focused around essential, ge-
neric drugs.
33. The transformation of WHO, supporting and actively working with
its new Civil Society Initiative (CSI) making sure it remains ac-
countable to civil society.
34. Assuring WHO stays staunchly independent from corporate inter-
ests.
35. Sustaining and promoting the defense of effective patients'
rights.
36. An expansion and incorporation into PHC of traditional medicine.
37. Changes in the training of health personnel to assure it covers
the great issues of our time as depicted in our PCH.
38. Public health-oriented (and not for-profit) health research
worldwide.
39. Strong people's organizations and a global movement working on
health issues.
40. More proactive countering of the media that are at the service of
the globalization process.
41. People's empowerment leading to their greater control of the
health services they need and get.
42. Creating the bases for a better analysis and better concerted ac-
tions by its members through greater involvement of them in the PHM's
website and list-server.
43. Fostering a global solidarity network that can support and react
our fellow members when facing disasters, emergencies or acute re-
pressive situations.
The specific actions proposed in the PCH under each of these headings
are not to be seen as the content for a collection of fitting slogans
or as a wish-list. Eventually, the PHM will have one or more 'Action
circles' organized addressing each of these clusters of demands;
these circles will interact through email and will network with other
groups already working on each of these issues before releasing their
conclusions to our list server and the PHM website.
Eighteen months after PHA2000, our challenge remains the same --
though more urgent. It still calls for the same main actions and
makes the same demands made in our People's Charter for Health as
summarized here.
But for this challenge to materialize in concrete, concerted actions,
more of each of you need to get involved. It is, therefore, not suf-
ficient for this short document to rehash what needs to be done. Each
of our members needs to re-commit her/himself: We need more of your
time! Perhaps the moment has come to abandon some of the irrelevant
work we all get involved in. We can no longer afford missing the for-
est by focusing on the trees...
We particularly call on delegates to and participants in this year's
WHA to join our Movement --regardless of your official or non-
official status.
To start with, you can visit, our website at:
http://www.phm2002.org
contact our Secretariat at <gksavar@citechco.net> and join the pha-
exchange list-server by writing to its moderator at <aviva@netnam.vn>
--
Claudio Schuftan
Hanoi, Vietnam
mailto:aviva@netnam.vn
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