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From:  EQUINET-Newsletter at equinetafrica.org
13 JANUARY 2003

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THE PRIVATE HEALTH SECTOR IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES?
http://www.who.int/bulletin/pdf/2002/bul-4-E-2002/80(4)325-330.pdf
Improving the quality of private health care provision in developing
countries is of major importance to the livelihoods of poor people.
This article was published in the ‘Bulletin of the World Health
Organisation’ and summarises how the activities of the private health
sector in low-income countries can be influenced so that national
health objectives are met. The article begins with an overview of the
characteristics of the private health sector in developing countries.
It continues with a summary of how to improve both the supply and the
demand for private health care. To close, the authors list the
possibilities available to governments for improved stewardship of the
private sector.


DYING FOR CHANGE: POOR PEOPLES EXPERIENCE OF HEALTH AND ILL-HEALTH
http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/voices/reports/dying/index.htm
Poverty and health are closely linked. As people consider disease and
ill-health to be a cause of poverty; they also consider good health of
themselves and of the family breadwinner to be essential for economic
survival and as a route out of poverty. This is one of the findings of
a study produced as part of a collaboration between the World Bank and
the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Voices of the Poor study also
found that poor peoples values, networks and support mechanisms are
being eroded by the strain of increasing poverty and urbanisation. In
addition, poor people often feel that their voices are excluded or
marginalised when considerations are made for improving public health
and health services.

HEALTH AND PRSPS: AN EARLY EXPERIENCE
http://www.healthsystemsrc.org/Pdfs/Health_PRSPs.pdf
As Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) have become a prominent
development tool it is important to consider how health is addressed in
the PRSP process. This is examined in an issues paper produced on
behalf the UK Department for International Development (DFID) by the
DFID Health Systems Resource Centre (HSRC). The paper aims to provide a
briefing on the PRSP process, discussing their role, the guidance on
PRSP preparation related to health, and reviewing some recent
experience. The PRSP process has typically been handled at a senior
level and has led to a shift in responsibility for poverty issues to
the Ministry of Finance. This has improved the potential to link
poverty work to broader resource allocation decisions. However, while
the PRSP process has high principles for country ownership and the
participation of civil society, many civil society organisations (CSOs)
and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are disappointed with the
extent and nature of participation. The paper also stresses that the
health sections of the PRSPs tend to be brief and contain standard
types of statements of policy and strategy but they can have a major
influence on health status and health services.

DO HUMAN RIGHTS HAVE A ROLE IN PUBLIC HEALTH WORK?
http://www.thelancet.com/journal/journal.isa
What role do human rights have in public health work? It has been asserted
that public health policies must
incorporate human rights norms and standards. Lack of respect for human
rights has hampered development in health care. The underlying assumption is
that in a human
rights based approach, individual rights are protected at all costs--even
despite adverse effects on the public's health. Yet a rights-based
approach does not privilege protection of individual rights over the
public good. This apparent tension must be addressed to enable the
creation of sound public health policies and programmes.

II INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR THE ADVOCACY OF PEOPLES’ HEALTH
Porto Alegre, January 20th – 23rd, 2003
Four hundred participants of the I International Forum for the Advocacy
of Peoples' Health, held in Porto Alegre in January 2002, soon
before the II World Social Forum (WSF), recommended the accomplishment
of a II International Forum for the Advocacy of Peoples' Health
preceding the III WSF in January 2003. This will allow a widened
participation of all those interested, a preparation of the
contributions on health issues for the III WSF, and, at the same time,
to raise the health theme to a power in the several activities within
the WSF itself. Conclusions of the I International Forum, available
through the link below, summarize the objective and the motivation for
this II Forum, where we want to build an International Agenda on the
Defense of the Health Right, as well as to launch the basis for an
international call for the accomplishment of the I World Forum for the
Advocacy of Health in Porto Alegre – Brazil, in the first semester of
2004.
Further details:
http://www.equinetafrica.org/newsletter/newsletter.php?id=1025