PHA-Exchange> Canada: report on national civil society summit, "Global Health is a Human Right!"

[Richard Elliott]

I thought I would share with list members, FYI, this report on a national 
summit of civil society groups recently held in Ottawa with the goal of 
mobilizing a broader cross-section of Canadian NGOs in doing advocacy on 
access to treatment and global health generally.

Some initial photographs of the march are on-line at:
http://www.aidslaw.ca/Maincontent/issues/cts/GTAGsummit.htm,
as are the agenda, speakers' presentations, and other materials.

For more information about GTAG, see 
http://www.aidslaw.ca/Maincontent/issues/care-treatment.htm#B2.

Richard Elliott
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network

***********
Canadian Civil Society Summit on “Global Health is a Human Right!”
[This article will be published in the next issue of the Canadian HIV/AIDS 
Policy & Law Review]

Held in Ottawa on 21-22 May 2003, a national summit on “Global Health is a 
Human Right!” brought together 86 people representing over 60 Canadian 
civil society groups interested in joint advocacy on realizing the human 
right to health in developing countries. The summit focused particularly on 
addressing the global crises of communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, 
tuberculosis and malaria.

The summit was organized by the Global Treatment Access Group (GTAG), a 
working group of over a dozen Canadian civil society organizations sharing 
information and undertaking joint activities aimed at improving access to 
essential medicines and other aspects of care, treatment and support for 
people living with HIV/AIDS and people with other health needs in 
developing countries. The Summit was co-sponsored by the Canadian Labour 
Congress, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the Interagency Coalition on 
AIDS and Development, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Council of 
Canadians, Rights & Democracy, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and 
the United Steelworkers.

The objective of the summit was to identify ideas for policy advocacy and 
action with respect to three themes: trade and globalization, financing 
global health, and corporate social responsibility. The summit’s agenda was 
organized according to these themes.

Panel Discussions
A panel on the impact of trade and globalization on commitments to achieve 
the international goal of “Health for All” by the year 2000 included 
speakers from Brazil, Argentina and Canada. Panellists discussed 
international trade treaties such as the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization 
(WTO) and the Free Trade Areas of the America (FTAA). They also addressed 
the threat to public health services posed by the WTO’s General Agreement 
on Trade and Services, and the dangers of Canada’s global trade policies 
for both Canadians and those in other countries. Panellists agreed that the 
state is central in ensuring health for all, as a matter of human rights; 
and that this responsibility must be coherent with trade negotiations.

Speakers on the second panel, Financing Global Health: Canada’s Foreign 
Aid, the Global Fund, and Debt Cancellation, included representatives of 
Canadian NGOs working on financing issues as well as a representative from 
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The speakers 
addressed the need for a health systems approach in Canada’s official 
development assistance, the funding (or lack thereof) and functioning of 
the Global Fund, and the relationship between the debt of Southern 
countries and their capacity to finance health domestically. For each of 
these areas, speakers urged concrete action by Canada that could make a 
significant difference to realizing the health of millions in the South.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Supporting Public Health in Developing 
Countries was the title of the third panel. The panellists represented both 
local and global organizations working on these issues, with speakers from 
the University of Toronto and MSF, a South African union, and a community 
development group in Niger. While speakers agreed that there is a role for 
the private sector to play in health issues, they also said that 
partnerships involving the private sector must be clearly defined, and must 
not impede the ability of the state to ensure accessible, public health care.

Discussion followed each panel. Over the course of the summit, participants 
debated a wide range of issues including:

-  the privatization of health care;
- public-private partnerships;
- the growing reach of international trade agreements and their impact on 
the ability of governments to fulfill their part of the social contract;
- adequate Canadian funding for the Global Fund and aid for health more 
broadly;
- the urgent need to eliminate the debt of developing countries;
- linking expertise to action;
- applying a feminist analysis to global health; and
- clarifying the role between government, civil society, and the private 
sector.

There was general consensus that the state has a central role to play in 
ensuring health for all  and that the responsibility of the state to ensure 
health must be coherent with the positions adopted by the state in trade 
negotiations and agreements, and in other multilateral fora.

Key Messages
Speakers who gave the opening, mid-day and closing addresses at the Summit 
delivered several key messages, including the following:

- we have a human right to be healthy and to expect proper care when we are 
sick;
- the pressures on our own health system are the same pressures faced by 
health systems around the world;
- government must regulate in the interest of the public, not the 
regulated; and
- partnerships between the public and the private sector cannot be allowed 
to subvert public interests for private profits.

Participants concluded that we can achieve health for all so long as we are 
we are enraged, engaged and willing to organize for change; and that, 
fundamentally, global health comes down to a very simple choice: either 
people are at the centre, or greater profits for big business are at the 
centre.

The two keynote speakers also focused on the theme of global health as a 
human right. Maude Barlow, of the Council of Canadians, delivered a clear, 
concise message: the single most important action civil society groups of 
the so-called “Quad” countries (the four most powerful Members at the 
WTO  the United States, the European Union, Japan and Canada) can take in 
the struggle against HIV/AIDS is to fight their own governments and 
corporations, and the polices and ideologies they are forcing on an 
increasingly divided world. James Orbinski, who is with the University of 
Toronto and MSF, echoed Ms. Barlow’s comments. He also enunciated distinct 
roles for government, civil society and the private sector in the area of 
health: the interest of the private sector is profit, while the role of 
civil society is to reclaim its position as citizens, and to demand that 
governments govern in the public interest.

March to Parliament Hill and Prime Minister's Office
A highlight of the Summit’s second day was a march by participants, through 
downtown Ottawa carrying a banner proclaiming “Global Health is a Human 
Right!” The march proceeded to Parliament Hill and then to the office of 
the Prime Minister, where marchers delivered over 15,000 postcards from 
Canadians demanding adequate funding for global health needs, and support 
for changes to the international trade regime to ensure access to less 
expensive, generic medicines for developing countries. The postcards were 
assembled by MSF Canada as part of an ongoing campaign. Also delivered was 
a letter from the Student-Led Access to HIV Medicines (SLAHM) Campaign, 
organized by students from the McGill International Health Initiative and 
endorsed by 14 student unions from across Canada, representing almost 
165,000 university students.

Strategizing Workshops
On the afternoon of the second day, the summit participants broke into 
workshops according to the three themes. The workshops were devoted to 
identifying elements of a “Common Platform on Global Health as a Human 
Right.” Participants further debated the issues raised at the summit and 
began to formulate common language.

GTAG is following through on the outcomes of the workshop, and will produce 
a draft Common Platform to be released later in 2003. GTAG has also 
continued organizing in relation to events such as the upcoming "donors 
conference" on contributions to the Global Fund in July 2003, and upcoming 
meetings of the WTO and of countries negotiating the FTAA.

- oline Twiss & Richard Elliott

oline Twiss is a member of the Global Treatment Access Group (GTAG) and was 
coordinator of the summit. Richard Elliott works with the Canadian HIV/AIDS 
Legal Network, a founding member organization of GTAG.


(on leave until September 2003)
Richard Elliott
Director, Policy & Research / Directeur, politiques et recherche
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network / Réseau juridique canadien VIH/sida
890 Yonge Street, Suite 700, Toronto, Canada M4W 3P4
Tel : +1 (416) 595-1666 Fax +1 (416) 595-0094
E-mail: relliott at aidslaw.ca Web: www.aidslaw.ca

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network is a partner organisation of the
AIDS Law Project of South Africa, and a non-governmental organization in
Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the 
United Nations. //
Le Réseau juridique canadien VIH/sida est un organisme partenaire du AIDS 
Law Project
de l'Afrique du Sud et ONG doté de statut consultatif spécial auprès du 
Conseil économique
et social des Nations Unies.

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