PHA-Exchange> SADC Parliamentary meeting calls for protection of health in trade negotiations at WTO

[Claudio]

ISN'T THIS A GOOD IDEA FOR ALL PHM MEMBERS IN THEIR COUNTRIES? i.e.arranging
a meeting with Parlamentarians?
Claudio


From: "Rene Loewenson" <rene at tarsc.org>
 <equinet-newsletter at equinetafrica.org>

On 20-22 August 2003, EQUINET, GEGA and the SADC parliamentary Forum
hosted a meeting on Building Parliamentary Alliances for Equity in Health in
Johannesburg. The meeting reviewed the priority
challenges to health equity in the region, the manner in which
parliamentary representative, oversight, legislative and budget roles
can play a role in promoting health equity, and some immediate areas
where such roles can impact on health equity. The meeting, held a few
weeks before the WTO 5th Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico,
particularly noted the need to protect public health in trade
negotiations and agreements. The resolutions of the meeting are shown
below:

RESOLUTIONS OF THE MEETING ON PARLIAMENTARY ALLIANCES FOR EQUITY IN
HEALTH IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

The meeting had  representatives from Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania,
Zambia, Zimbabwe and SADC.
The Forum confirmed the policy commitment in the region to equity in health
and acknowledged the ongoing work towards implementing health equity
policies. The meeting urged that greater effort be made to deal with
differences in health status and access to health care that are
unnecessary, avoidable and unfair.
The meeting noted that achieving health equity in the region demands
that countries address economic, governance, food security, HIV/AIDS and
other major challenges to health and for countries to create and protect
sustainable, equitable and  participatory health systems that are
provided with adequate material and human resources.

Achieving health equity calls for countries to allocate more resources
towards those with greater health needs, and depends on the extent to
which different groups of people have the opportunity for participation
and the power  to direct resources towards their health needs. To this
end, the meeting agreed that parliamentary committees on health promote
health equity in the budget process.

The meeting noted that parliaments have an important role in promoting
health equity through  their representation, legislative and oversight
roles. Parliaments can build alliances with the Executive branch of
government, across political parties, between different portfolio
committees and with civil society, health sector and other agencies at
national and regional level in support of these roles.

The meeting observed with concern that some multilateral trade
agreements do not fully address the health and development interests of
our countries and region.
It is  recommended that:
. Countries protect their government authority in all trade
agreements to safeguard public health and regulate services in the
interests of public health;
. Government trade negotiators consult health ministries,
parliamentary health committees and civil society on positions to be
taken to trade negotiations for their public health implications;
. Governments assert their rights under the Doha Declaration on
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) and Public
Health to define what constitutes a public health problem;
. Governments strengthen their efforts to take full advantage of
the flexibilities and policy measures allowed in TRIPs to access cheaper
medicines and protect indigenous knowledge systems;
. Governments ensure that national laws and regional  policies
provide for compulsory licensing, parallel importation, 'government
use',  and production of generic drugs;
. Given the central role of nutrition and food security in public
health, countries retain the right to raise tariffs and demand
elimination of subsidies on exports to protect food sovereignty in
agricultural production;
. Governments not make any commitments under the General Agreement
on Trade in Services (GATS) in health or health related services that
compromise their right to regulate according to national policy
objectives;
. Countries conduct a comprehensive 'health check' on GATS
commitments made or proposed so far, with the active involvement of
health ministries, parliamentary health committees and civil society;
. Countries call for a change to GATS rules that restrict them
from retracting in commitments already made under GATS.

The meeting recognised the importance of regional networking, policy and
alliances within SADC defend and protect  public health
and health equity interests in Africa in the face of these challenges.