People's Health Movement: The Cuenca Declaration 2nd part
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CUENCA DECLARATION
Part 2
Defend the right to health in the face of war, militarization
and violence
PHM calls on the people of the world to oppose war and militari-
zation as the most blatant attacks on people's health, espe-
cially the health of women and the poor. While the terror at-
tacks in New York, Madrid and London caused unjustifiable dam-
age, the US-led "war on terror" has generated an even more ter-
rible, unjustifiable and endless war on defenseless populations
in order to control their natural resources. At the same time,
wars that have claimed millions of lives are unacknowledged as
the UN system and our governments allow them to continue un-
abated.
PHM will continue to participate in the global movement to end
the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Foreign troops should
be removed immediately and reparations paid for damage caused by
the US-led war. PHM calls for an investigation into the use of
torture by US soldiers and medical personnel at Guantanamo Bay,
in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an immediate end to the detention
of foreign nationals held without trial at Guantanamo Bay. We
demand that medical personnel refuse to participate in illegal
detention and torture. The US and its allies must be charged
with violations of the Geneva Conventions for their attacks on
civilian populations, particularly medical personnel and insti-
tutions in Iraq.
PHM calls upon the United Nations and humanitarian agencies to
intervene effectively in the "hidden wars" in the Congo, Sudan,
Chechnya and many other places to foster lasting peace through
political reconciliation and economic and social development
programs that transform the social and economic conditions that
give rise to these wars.
PHM opposes the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the efforts
to isolate and ghettoize the Palestinian people behind the ille-
gal separation wall. Denial of Palestinian health rights on the
West Bank and Gaza has reached emergency proportions.
PHM supports the steps toward democracy and self-determination
made by the indigenous people of southern Mexico, and calls for
an end to the low-intensity conflict waged against them by the
Mexican government.
PHM denounces the biological warfare called Plan Colombia cur-
rently being waged against the peoples of Colombia, Ecuador and
Peru under the guise of drug control. These actions contravene
international conventions, and irreversibly damage environmental
and human health in the region.
PHM calls upon the United States to take responsibility for and
compensate victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam, and the toxic
contamination left by US military bases in the Philippines and
elsewhere.
Struggle for comprehensive primary health care and sustainable,
quality, local and national health systems
PHM recognises that neo-liberal policies have resulted in disin-
vestments in public sector health services; the promotion of a
limited number of mostly curative technical interventions se-
lected solely on the basis of a very narrow and often inappro-
priate application of cost effectiveness analysis, the corre-
sponding neglect of broader environmental actions; the acceler-
ated migration of health workers from public to private sectors
and thence to wealthy countries; and the continuing spread of
HIV/AIDS especially in Africa, with the collapse of public
health services in many countries.
PHM calls upon governments to:
a. Implement comprehensive community-based Primary Health Care
initiatives that enroll or involve relevant sectors and are sup-
ported by legislation.
b. Provide healthy living and working environments in order to
respect and guarantee the health rights of all.
c. Establish and fully implement universal health care financing
mechanisms at national level in all countries (public health ex-
penditure being at least 15% of the overall budget, especially
in African countries) in order to provide protection for the
whole population.
d. Address the crisis of human resources for health (HRH) by:
improving working conditions, training, support and supervision
for health workers; implementing an International code of prac-
tice on ethical recruitment, financial compensation to exporting
countries, return and reorientation of health workers in the Di-
aspora through incentives, and establishing a global fund for
HRH.
e. Ensure widespread knowledge on HIV status; access to opportu-
nities for voluntary testing; equitable, and sustainable access
to ARVs with emphasis on prevention; comprehensive home-based
care including health and social services.
PHM calls upon the WHO to support and promote the above as na-
tional government responsibilities and to advocate for the re-
moval of economic and political obstacles at global, regional
and national levels, that adversely affect national governments'
social policies.
PHM will continue to raise awareness among communities on poli-
cies, policy-making processes and financial issues to enable
them to monitor government performance, increase accountability
and address health equity issues. PHM commits to gathering from
within its movement, positive experiences of comprehensive PHC
to build up the evidence base that supports such an approach,
and to undertake concerted advocacy for its revitalization.
Finally, PHM salutes and supports the strong social justice ap-
proach to health in Venezuela and Cuba which inspires and en-
courages us towards Health for All.
Support the growth of PHM
The People's Health Movement is both a network and a movement
that takes as its mission the strengthening of the much wider
movement of individuals and organisations around the world
fighting for the Right to Health. PHM is bound by a commitment
to the People's Charter for Health and includes country circles,
issue circles and affiliates which are actively involved in ad-
vancing the work of the PHM. Beyond this core of PHM activists
are the friends of PHM and organisational partners at all lev-
els.
Another world is possible - these are our strategies to achieve
it!
This declaration urges health activists around the world to or-
ganise, influence, advocate, analyse and educate to advance
global people's health.
The People's Health Movement -
- will pursue work on the human right to health that includes
both individual and community rights.
- will continue to struggle for improved ways of working by
strengthening its regional as well as its global coordination.
It will continue to develop participatory and transparent deci-
sion making so that activists at all levels know that their
views are valued.
- celebrates the inauguration of the International People's
Health University, a university for health activists with
courses presented in association with local PHMs and selected
universities around the world.
- will engage with formal training institutions and challenge
the dominance of the biomedical paradigm of health care. It will
incorporate diverse strategies for reorienting health worker
education to comprehensive PHC, keeping people in communities at
the centre.
- will become a forum within which intellectuals can support lo-
cal activists in their action and struggle.
- will challenge the media to disseminate its perspectives and
publicize its activities.
- will strengthen its communications strategy to reach communi-
ties at the grassroots.
- will translate as many of its communications as possible into
two or more languages; will establish a mix of central and re-
gional/national websites; the PHM newsletter will continue quar-
terly publication and will be translated into other languages.
As a summary of PHM´s strategy for the next three years:
-PHM will be linking the local, the national and the global by
passing on and giving guidance to its geographical circles on
the issues on which to concentrate tactically.
-PHM will document, analyze and disseminate research findings on
key issues pertaining to the principles in its Charter, includ-
ing gathering, analyzing and disseminating key evidence for its
constituency of the efficacy and sustainability of initiatives
in comprehensive primary health care.
-PHM will create awareness about the burning health issues of
the day and will delegitimize and demystify false claims, pre-
scriptions and slogans used by the Establishment.
-PHM will work with grassroots organizations and communities
trying to understand their issues, building partnerships and
supporting their activists in their struggle.
-PHM will adopt an approach of strengthening rights, and will
support initiatives to achieve the Right to Health and Health
Care at the local, national and international levels.
-PHM will work tirelessly to build international solidarity with
the oppressed and with those affected by natural disasters and
civil strife,
- PHM will confront powerful forces of oppression in the strug-
gle for economic justice, in particular through support for can-
cellation of debt, the end of economic conditionalities and the
establishment of a fair international tax regime.
-PHM will incorporate cultural and spiritual practices in all
aspects of its work.
-PHM will advocate with national governments, UN and other na-
tional and international agencies to influence their decision-
making.
The power of the People's Health Movement can change the world.
Another World, which includes Health for All, is possible. We
must all demand and struggle towards a world in which health is
a right, and is not subject to the forces of neo-liberalism.
SUPPORT and sign on to the People's Health Charter and the Mil-
lion Signature Campaign which is demanding Health for All Now,
JOIN your local PHM group and support the new campaigns and ac-
tivities being initiated: http://www.phmovement.org
Cuenca, Ecuador
22 July 2005