PHA-Exchange> Health NOW! March 16 press release

Tue Mar 16 12:17:49 PST 2004

Please circulate widely
PRESS RELEASE : March 16th, 2004:

Bangalore, Brussels, Baghdad, Managua, London, Manila, San Francisco and New
York.

(Issued by the Campaign Alliance co-ordinating ‘Health NOW- NO War, NO WTO,
fight for people’s  Health’ campaign).

‘STOP THE BUSH- FIRE’-

 STOP  WAR  !  STOP  WTO !

HEALTH NOW ! CAMPAIGN SUPPORTS GLOBAL ANTI-WAR MARCH.

“WAR AND WTO : TWO THORNS FROM THE SAME BUSH”.

A new global campaign, that is being launched on March 18th, calls for
throwing out the occupying forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and dismantling of
the World Trade Organisation.

“Wars and WTO are the greatest threat to health and peace” said a
spokesperson. “Under the guise of a ‘war on terror’, the United States is
trying to enforce global hegemony at a terrifying cost to people’s health,”
she said.

Wars, military interventions, occupation and militarization devastate public
health and also waste precious resources--at the expense of health and other
basic services.

The campaigners have sent out an appeal to people all over the world to join
public demonstrations and other activities of protest and resistance
scheduled for March 20th. March 20th is being observed as the global day of
protest against war and occupation.

The alliance spearheading the campaign have leading groups, networks, people
based movements and activist groups like the People's Health Movement, the
International People's Health Council, International League of People's
Struggle-Study Commission on Health; Women’s Global Network for Reproductive
Rights (WGNRR); Pesticide Action Network-Asia Pacific (PAN-AP); intal
/Medical Aid for the Third World (Belgium), Artsen voor Vrede (Belgium), the
Council for Health and Development (the Philippines), the Hesperian
Foundation (USA), the Union of Health Work Committees (Palestine), Union of
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (Palestine), and International Action
Center (USA).

Timed one year after the invasion and military occupation began in Iraq, the
campaigners

point out that situation has deteriorated in Iraq and has reached an
explosive situation. “Lives of thousands of innocent children and women are
at risk,” said a campaign communication. Consider the facts:

·        An estimated 55,000 people have already died in Iraq because of the
unjust, illegal and illegitimate war that started one year ago.

·        Infant Mortality in Iraq has reached 108 per 1000 live births by
March 2004. (In 1989 it was 40)

·         The cost of this war is already more than 100 billion US dollars.
(UN estimates that 11 billion US dollars are necessary to provide water and
sanitation for the people in developing countries, annually).

“Occupying forces are responsible for this humanitarian crisis,” said a
spokesperson. “Iraq is just not an isolated case. Observations from
Afghanistan, Palestine and other places under foreign Military occupation
paint pictures of blood-shed,” she added.

“25 years of war in Afghanistan (another country currently under US-led
occupation) has devastated the health and lives of people. Out of every 1000
children born in Afghanistan, 155 die immediately” said a spokesperson for
the Campaign Alliance. “This is a scar on humanity” she said.

The campaigners are also calling the military atrocities that have attained
an epidemic proportion in Occupied Territories of Palestine where everyday
sufferings of ordinary people are now further amplified by the ‘Apartheid
Wall’.

“Pregnant women delivering babies at military check points; destruction of
hospitals and clinics; attacks on civilians and medical personnel and
funerals punctuate the every day life here” said a spokesperson from
Palestine. “What we are witnessing is utter disrespect and disregard for
human lives and blatant violation of International Humanitarian Laws.  Over
120 Israeli military check points in West Bank and Gaza strip are
suffocating over 3 million Palestinians” he said.

This campaign was first presented and promoted in January 2004 in Mumbai, at
the International Forum for the Defense of People's Health, at the World
Social Forum and at the Mumbai Resistance 2004. These summits called for
action for peace and appealed to galvanise people all over the world.

The campaign has been gaining strength worldwide through solidarity and
building alliances, primarily through a web site set up exclusively for this
purpose: www.health-now.org.

“WTO is no more about trade, it is the World ‘Terror’ Organisation – along
with wars, they are responsible for the deaths of millions of people
worldwide, especially the poor” said a spokesperson. Consider the  facts:

·        Millions of poor and landless farmers have lost their livelihoods
since the World Trade Organization has integrated agriculture in the global
trading system.

·        Six million people in poor countries urgently need antiretroviral
treatment yet less than 5% have access to these drugs. Corporate
globalization spreads ill health.

·        The health gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider.

The campaign will be officially launched in several places like Baghdad,
Brussels, Bangalore, Manila, San Francisco, New York, London and Occupied
Palestinian Territories. The campaign, that will be launched in March 3rd
week, has several activities. Setting up an ‘Health & Occupation Watch’ will
be one of the outcomes. Health & Occupation Watch collates reports, data and
field notes on the health impact of war and occupation in Afghanistan, Iraq,
Palestine and elsewhere. Stories from the frontline of the struggle for
health: occupationwatch.health-now.org

Signed by the representatives of the following mass movements, networks,
organisations.

International networks:

People’s Health Movement (PHM), International People’s Health Council
(IPHC), International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS) – Study Commission
on Health, Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), Pesticide
Action Network Asia-Pacific (PAN-AP)

Initial list of local organisations:

Belgium: intal/Medical Aid for the Third World, Artsen voor Vrede/IPPNW

Iran: People’s Health Movement Iran;  Italia: Democrazia Popolare;

Korea: Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Right (KFHR)

México: Colectivo Salud en Movimiento, Salud Comunitaria de La Huasteca
(Capás México); Palestine: Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC), Union of
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC); Philippines: People’s Health
Movement Philippines, Health Action for Human Rights (HAHR), Pesticide
Action Network Philippines, Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), Council
for Health and Development (CHD); Syria: Yarmouk NGO ;   USA: Hesperian
Foundation, International Action Center, PUSO Seattle

For media enquiries, please contact: media at health-now.org or call:

Philippines: +63-919 5395751                                   : India:
+91-80-5128 0009

Belgium: +32-495-85 57 01                                       : USA:
+1-510 684 1099

Iraq: +964-7901 42 65 46

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No war, no WTO; Fight for people's health. Health NOW!
http://www.health-now.org

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