PHA-Exchange> PHM developments

[Aviva]

From: "Community Health Cell" <sochara at vsnl.com>

 Dear PHM friends,
>
> Greetings from Community Health Cell, Bangalore!
> Here arte some of the latest developments:
>
> 1. Asian Social Forum: - The Asian Social Forum will be held in Hyderabad
from 2-7th January as a runner up regional event to the World Social Forum
at Porto Allegre, Brazil in February 2003. A very wide range of national and
other networks have come together and a series of meetings are being held
all over the country. PHM - India is actively involved. It will probably be
a much larger event than PHM-JSS-Kolkatta (our national PHM meeting),
because of the intersectoral involvement of all those
 involved in  struggles, campaigns and alternatives to existing global,
national, local development strategies.
> We hope to have a PHM session where everyone who attends can share about
the post-PHA initiatives in their state, country region or NGO or network.
In addition a few parallel workshops on Health issues are evolving. These
may include Health as a Right; the Right to water; environmental health
especially pesticides and toxic hotspots; Women's access to health, etc. As
in the PHM mobilization - the meeting will
 be preceded by pre ASF events including seminars and workshops; public
hearings and people's courts; campaigns and other such  events.
>
>  Those who are already in touch with ASF please inform us. Those who are
interested to join in, please inform us.
>
> 2. Alma Ata Anniversary Reflections:- Further to the letter that the
Secretariat had  circulated on-29th July ,we also hope to have the first
reflection on 25 years of Alma Ata to evolve a discussion document that can
be built upon  further as the other meetings in other regions and countries
take place.
> Already this potential meeting has been discussed in PHM India  informally
and also with  Sri Lankan colleagues and others. This meeting will draw upon
all those who can make
 it to the ASF - perhaps as a serious small group satellite meetings like
the South Asian Dialogue hosted by us in November 1999. We can bring
together the first reflections and draw upon materials that are already
available. I am working on an idea draft of this meetings, but this note
needs an early response from all of you - (are some of you are free to  join
ASF on those dates and are you interested in this meeting?)/
>
 3. Visit by Srilankan PHM contact: - Niranjan Udumalagala of PHM - Sri
Lanka, a pharmacist who has been involved with the essential drugs and
other PHM initiative in Sri Lanka visited Bangalore and spent some time with
us sharing all that is happening in Sri Lanka including a recent  meeting
before Johannesburg summit organized by Bala and others. The
 malaria problem in Sri Lanka is acute and we shared the guidelines we  have
written for community mobilization and partnerships for WHO-SEARO region and
the efforts we have made in Tumkur district to operationalise these
guidelines. Niranjana had also suggested that they would be  interested to
raise the issues of war, conflict and health in the light
 of the Sri Lankan experience at the ASF at Hyderabad in January 2003.
>
> 4. Visit by Italian PHM-contact:- Dr. Sunil Deepak from AIFO - Italy who
has been actively involved in PHM-Italy visited CHC today to share his ideas
and perspectives. He was here in connection with a training programme on a
new manual for working with people with disabilities.
> Some of his AIFO contacts in India have shown interest in PHM
involvement. He really inspired us with the whole process of the Italian
involvement at so many different levels from individual, local to national
level.
>
> 5. PHM concerns in State Health Policy: - Thelma has been busy with the
state policy processes in both Karnataka and Orissa state and we are  glad
to inform that many PHM charter concerns have found place in both these
evolving state policies. These are  contrary to the policy evolution at
national level which has been moving away from HFA goals  and moving towards
legitimizing privatization. These will be circulated for wider comment as
soon as they are public documents. Mainstreaming with state bureaucracies
and technocrats has not been easy but if PHM concerns don't become
mainstream then all that we do will continue to be
 marginalized. Advocacy at National level by PHM is still not adequately
developed but at Karnataka it is going well.
>
> 6. PHM in WSSD - Johannesburg and AIDS meeting in Barcelona: - We have
been reading bits and pieces from both these meetings but perhaps we  should
send a letter from the secretariat requesting all those who are  PHM
contacts, but may have gone in other capacities, to write more details of
what happened and what issues and events took place in the
 context of the PH charter concerns. David and Mira were there at WSSD.
> At Barcelona I don't know who...
>
> 7. PHM in Glob Forum on HlthResearcc Forum 6 - (Arusha, Tanzania 11-16th
November): - David and I have been in constant touch with GFHR since Geneva
and many of us  have now been invited as researchers and policy advocates to
different sessions in different capacities. As of now David Sanders is
presenting  his research findings in a session on Research in NGOs;
Zafarullah is  co-chairing a session - perhaps the same one; Thelma is in
the TB  session; Christiane may be in the session on Access to Drugs; and I
have  been asked to speak at the plenary on priority setting in Research
 building on PH charter priorities. David has circulated a note on the
exchange and soon we will know who else may be at the meeting.
>
> 8. Supporting PHM Africa:- In response to a request by Mwajuma and her
PHM colleagues in Africa, I am proposing a week extra availability in
Africa to support meetings, reflections, or get togethers in Kenya,  Uganda,
Tanzania. Tentatively the dates suggested are before Arusha  (between 4-10th
November). A separate letter on this follows.
>
> 9. The "Contact" magazine Special Issues on Peoples Health Movement and
beyond:-  This is nearly over. I have been working on the technical editing
of all the little pieces and reflections over the last two weeks. It will be
forwarded to the CMAI office in the next few days and manuscript to all
 the contributors as well. All the articles had to be edited to suit the
Contact 500-1000 word limits per piece. If you have any good photographs  of
PHA and PHM, please send it to Reena Luke Mathai - editor, Contact at  CMAI,
New Delhi soon.
>
> 10. Reaching the Unreached: - CHC efforts to reach the unreached policy
makers, academies, researchers is going well. Last week I spoke on PH
Charter at CMC-Vellore and RUSHA. Later this month I may make a PHM input in
AIIMS, New Delhi and later at the National INCLEN (Indian Clinical
Epidemiologists) conference in Trivandrum where I am speaking on the PH
charter - an alternative Research paradigm. In October I may be defending
Peoples Health in a WHO study group in Hanoi on cross cutting themes between
Water - Agriculture, Ecology and Health. In December, Dr.Arole is inviting
some of us from PHM linkages to present issues in different sessions of an
International conference on Health,
 Equity and Empowerment. Finally on March 1st Berkeley University, Hesperian
Foundation and others have invited Zafarullah, Thelma and myself to the
Annual Bay Area conference to present the CHC and PHM charter concerns and
also help to promote PHM-USA linkages with AID and
 other networks. Sarah, Darlena and a Professor Richard Pellman are
organizing this.
>
> 11. Finally the most interesting news is that Dr.Brundtland has announced
that she will not be seeking re-election. The letter to WHO  staff has been
on the PHA exchange and the latest issue of Lancet (see  website) has an
article by Clare Kapp (WHO Chief announces surprise move  to stand down). I
hear that our criticism of WHO at the technical  briefings also added to her
decision. As Convener of WHO-WHA circle, I
 have had numerous emails with suggestions that PHM should lobby with
candidates, push PHM charter concerns, write to WHO-EB to make the
nominations and deliberations transparent, etc. We hear that Pascal
acoumbi  - PM of Mozamubique may be a candidate. Was he not on the guest
list of PHA? We need to watch the process and do our bit to get a
pro-people's health DG to push our concerns.
>
> Best Wishes,
> Ravi Narayan,
> CHC . PHM,
> WHO-WHA Circle.
>