PHA-Exchange> WHO meeting in Gva

[Claudio]

> > Today there was a lunchtime session on the Millenium Development Goals
> > with Dr JW Lee, the Health advisor to the MDG Secretariat in NY, the
> > Iceland Chair of the Exec Board, and people from WHO.
The WHO leadership is placing emphasis on
> > strengthening health systems with more ressources and PHC, which Dr Lee
> > reminded all was a long tradition since Alma Ata.  In 2006, the World
Health
> > Report wil deal with the issue of Human Ressources.
> > I was able to speak during the question period, I adressed the issue of
> > WHO's committment in the MDG and the need to raise the disability issue
> > that is not in the MDG, for, if WHO cannot perhaps prevent war, or
> > death, it could raise as an issue the 6 or 7 permanently maimed disabled
> > people for every death....
> > I concluded with calling on Government representatives, and DR JW Lee to
> > come and join the NGOs who will assemble to defend people's health in
> > Cuenca, at PHA 2.
> > The head of PAHO came over to thank me and she confirmed what we knew,
that she will attend PHA2. The head of the Ecuador delegation who's from
Cuenca also came to greet me.
> > During the discussion in the afternoon, there was an interesting
> > exchange. The US delegation criticized WHO for getting
> > "overstretched" in trying to deal with "trade issues" (there is a
> > commission on TRIPS and access to medicine whose work will be discussed
> > in the coming days), and "macroeconomic issues", which are not in its
> > domain- says the US- and further the WHO should "refrain from using
> > terms such as the Right to Health".
> > To that, PAHO's Director Mirta Rose replied that "the Right to Health is
the basis of democracy, and that the later does not exist without the
former."
> > Rounding up the discussion Dr Kirstin Leitner of WHO said she was very
concious that trade and macroeconomics were not WHO's domains of
intervention, however, health could not be preserved by looking at health
alone, and that WHO was sollicited to intervene in Trade and macroeconomic
matters
> > and would continue to be so sollicited because the WHO business is the
> > right to health...
> > The MDG report released today has a number of paragraphs on the
> > "right to health", which are fairly radical.
> > Other noted intervention, the French delegation is proposing to levy and
> > international tax (seems like they have opted for the ATTAC network
> > proposal for the tax on speculative gains)... There seems to be some
> > networking between the Spanish, French, Brazilian, and other LA
> > delegation acting as a bloc.
> > Regina Keith made a great  intervention in the EB on the theme of
> > ending user fees, the WHO is promoting gradual elimination of user fees,
> > of rebuilding health systems in poor countries and of defending the Sri
> > Lanka public health model (in opposition to the private model being
> > promoted).
> > That is in a nutshell. Yesterday was most of the day on the Tsunami.
> >Dr Lee also stated today that poverty  is like a permanent Tsunami for 2
> > million people on health.
> > All for today,  PHA info was passed out hand to hand  at the EB.
Nance