PHA-Exchange> PHM meets in Geneva at WHAssembly

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THE PEOPLE’S HEALTH MOVEMENT
invites you to a People’s Health Assembly
 ahead of the World Health Assembly:

Friday 16 May 2003,
8.30 am to 17.30 pm
Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 May, 2003, 
13.30 pm to 17.30 pm
Venue: World Council of Churches,
150 Route de Ferney, Geneva
(across from the International Labour Office)
Bus: 5, 18, 28, F
A reflection in the context of the 25th Anniversary 
of the 1978 Alma Ata conference:

“HEALTH  FOR  ALL  BY  THE  YEAR …?”
“Our one and only world is moving 
from the slow lane of Health for All 
towards the fast lane of Hell for All.” 
Dr Halfdan Mahler, March 2003
COME  AND  HEAR  THE  SOVEREIGN  VOICE  
OF  PEOPLE  FROM  ALL  THE  CONTINENTS  !

Round tables / panel discussions on
War, Poverty and Disease Control

TRADUCTION SIMULTANÉE EN FRANÇAIS
INFORMATION :
LE MOUVEMENT POUR LA SANTE DES PEUPLES :  www.phmovement.org
PEOPLE’S HEALTH MOVEMENT - GENEVA INTERNATIONAL
15 Chemin du Passeur, 1219 Aïre, Suisse. Email Secretariat: nance at aids-
bells.org
Temporary office (France) :
Tel : +33 660 83 94 48 - Fax : +33 450 42 83 16
 FRIDAY, MAY 16
8.30 - 9.00  Registration and Opening ceremony, Dr Ravi Narayan, 
Coordinator, People’s Health Movement
9.00 – 10.45  Round table :
For democratic control of people over health access, what is needed 
today? From 2000 to The People’s Health Assembly - II in 2004.
The Alma Ata Declaration and The Health for All agenda
Excellent examples of PHC that are still very functional from Central 
America, Asia and the Middle East. The Alma Ata Anniversary Workshop at 
the Asia Social Forum in January 2003.
With the participation of : 
PHM Chair Maria Hamlin Zuniga, coordinator, The International People's 
Health Council (IPHC), PHM, and Dr Halfdan Mahler, former executive 
director of WHO
Latin America: Hugo Icu, Guatemala, PHM- Central America; Margarita 
Posada, El Salvador (Regional Committee for the Promotion of Community 
Health); 
Europe: Dr. Sunil Deepak, PHM-Italy, Martine Toulotte, Social Forum 
Fra.-Porto Alegre
Asia: Carmelita Canella, Philippines, Consumer International, Delen de 
la Paz, PHM- Philippines;;  Sudha Sundararaman, All India Democratic 
Women’s Association § Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, India; Dr Quasem Chowdury, 
Bangladesh. 
Middle East: Dr Mohammed Ali Barzgar, PHM-Middle East, Iran
10.45 - 11.00  Coffee break
11.00 - 12.30  Access to Affordable and Essential Drugs, who’s to lead, 
the World Healh or the World Trade Organisation ? 
Imagine a great writer sends a letter to a friend, who owns the letter ?
The writer, the friend, or the Post Office? In drugs, the 
pharmaceutical industry is generally an intermediary… (Dr Velasquez, 
Foro 2003, Havana, April 2003)

1- History of ED and the Bangladesh example.
2- The Millennium goals and access to drugs
3- After Doha, the campaign of Brazil
With the participation of: 
PHM Chairs: Dr Z. Chowdury  and Dr Eva Ombaka Director, Ecumenical 
Pharmaceutical Network Director, PHM-GI,  Dr Bala, (HAI-ROAP), Sri 
Lanka, David Sanders, PHM South Africa. Amit Sen Gupta, Jana Swasthya 
Abhiyan, PHM-India. Other speakers (UN-gov’tal) to be confirmed.
12.30 - 14.30  Lunch break
 FRIDAY, MAY 16, continued
14.30 - 17.30  Wars, Conflicts and Disasters : Health and Humanitarian 
aspects of the Iraq war; collateral damage; Palestine, Congo, other 
conflicts; PHM response.
Health doesn’t receive major attention during rebuilding and resources 
for health are diverted because of wars, conflicts and disasters. Alma 
Ata spoke about disarmament, so did the People’s Health Charter. But 
what we see today is the development of more of medical-precision 
weapons of mass destruction like ABC weapons. The health movement is 
not visible and active enough in its role to stop research, production 
and proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Time to act is now. 
A campaign is need for (a) a Halt to Depleted uranium weapons (b) 
Conscientising humanitarian action donors on health issues (c) 
Networking between health and humanitarian sectors- at the field as 
well as at the donor level. Examples from Irak and others.
PHM Chair: Dr Rosalie Bertell and Dr P.V. Unnikrishnan 
Dr Rosalie Bertell, PhD, GNSH, President of the International Institute 
of Concern for Public Health: Modern Warfare: the people, the 
environment and survival of life on Earth.
Dr. Mustafa Bourghoti, and Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, Union of Palestinian 
Medical Relief Committees, PHM Middle East.
Ms Aimée Mwadi Kady, Society of Women on Aids in Africa, Dem. Republic 
of Congo, 
Denise Zwahlen, Doctors for Global Health, USA; Mike Rowson, Medact, UK.
Niranjan Udumalagala, PHM-Sri Lanka

SATURDAY, MAY 17
13.30 - 14.00  Registration
14.00 - 17.30  Global health and Disease of poverty, TB, HIV, 
Malaria… : We the People, or We the Corporations ? 
Ensuring the respect of basic Human Rights is a major challenge. 
Poverty and health approach Vs social marketing of magic bullets; 
tackling socio-economic determinants
The Public-Private partnership
The Million Signatures Campaign, Health as a Human Right
“Le Maldevelopment”: Private Sector Development Strategy, and the World 
Bank’s PRSP
No to Water privatisation 
Round Table : The case of HIV/AIDS and Human Rights 
Call to action related to PHC and the Access of women to Health
Cancelling debt in the developing sector, a priority
With the participation of : Chair: Mwajuma S. Masaiganah, PHM-Central 
and East Africa and Dr. Manoj Kurian, Health and Healing, World Council 
of Churches. 

(Saturday continued) With José Utrera, WEMOS; Roberto Lopez, HAI, Peru, 
Dr Mira Shiva, India’s Voluntary Health Organisation,
Vicki Briault, CADTM (Cmte. for the Cancellation of Third World Debt), 
PHM-GI,
Dr. Oscar Lanza, HAI, Bolivia and Dr T. Sundararaman, PHM-India,
Dr Eric Friedman, Physicians for Human Rights, USA, Nance Upham, PHM-
GI, and Charlotte Brody, Executive Director, Health Care Without Harm,
Melina Auerbach, Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights.
SUNDAY, MAY 18
13.30 - 17.30  WEMOS-PHM : GATS and the Privatisation of Health Care
WTO Agreements and Public Health.
Organising NGO: Wemos, Netherlands, jointly with IPHC and PHM-Europe. 
Chair: Nina Tellegen; facilitators: Anke Tijtisma and Patrick Kaashoek.
1. The effect of the GATS agreement on access to health care.
The GATS treaty can influence access to health care deeply. Awareness 
and good health and economic policy should safeguard people’s right to 
health. The possible impact of GATS on public health in Southern 
countries.
Samuel Ochieng: Consumer Information Network of Kenya, and Wemos :“An 
investigation into the effects of GATS on the Right to Health in Kenya” 
and John Hillary on GATS. 
2. The effects of WTO agreements on food and nutritional security. 
The Agreement on Agriculture has a huge impact on food security in 
Southern countries, and many NGOs lobby for measures that safeguard the 
right to food in the South. This workshop aims to discuss this from a 
health and nutrition perspective.
Nance Upham, PHM-Geneva International : “A joyful historical 
perspective on WTO, and a future without?”; David Sanders, PHM-South 
Africa. Other speakers. www.wemos.nl
PHM sponsored events during the World Health Assembly, 
at the Palais des Nations. Attendance restricted to persons having 
registration for the UN event. Ask PHM Secretariat for details. 
Monday May 19, 17.00-18.00 Public vs. Private care, S. Ochieng, Wemos, 
Kenya and David Woodward, PHM-GI
 NGO Forum for Health :Tuesday May 20, 13.30-16.00-: “The Primary 
Health Care Movement 25 years after Alma Ata. Lessons learned:  with M. 
Zuniga, Latin America, E. Ombaka, S. Muwenda, Africa; Dr Prem C. John 
and AHM Nouman, South Asia; E. de la Paz, SEA, Dr MA Barzgar, Iran; N. 
Cebotarenco, Eastern Europe; Dr J. Oomen, (Orissa State case), India; 
P. Nickson, Inst. Pan Africain de Santé Communautaire, R.D. Congo.