PHA-Exchange> Politics of health website (reminder)

[Claudio]

The Politics of Health Knowledge Network - Invitation to Participate

HealthWrights and the International People's Health Council (IPHC) is developing an online resource called 'Politics of Health Knowledge Network' (see www.politicsofhealth.org).  This will be a user-friendly information-sharing tool providing solid facts and well analyzed data, so that concerned people can better respond IN A MORE POLITICALLY ADEQUATE WAY to the most urgent health-related issues confronting humanity.  

The 'Politics of Health' web site will summarize and place in the larger MACRO context a spectrum of major health-related concerns.  It will, FOR EXAMPLE, map the connections linking the AIDS/TB pandemic to the world's 3 biggest industries (military/arms, illicit drugs, and oil).  It will examine how giant corporations and globalizING trade policies Affect human and environmental health, why tobacco is becoming the world's number one killer, and how efforts to reduce poverty and global warming have been stymied.  It will explore the new partnerships of UN organizations (UNICEF, WHO) with the pharmaceutical companies and FAST food industry ("the McDonaldization of Primary Health Care") and the World Bank's takeover of Third World policy AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION planning.  All of the above will BE tieD into the way that big money buys public elections and undermines democratic processES.  

For the many problems the Network WILL map out, it will try to include examples  and suggestions for positive alternatives and organized actionS, EMPHASIZING GIVING information ON how to connect WITH OTHERS AND NETWORK. 

This online resource is just getting started.  The first topic we are beginning to develop is the 'Politics of AIDS.'  We plan to present published data and reference materials in a way that provides the 'big picture' on AIDS policy, education, prevention and treatment. We also hope to bring together voices from around the world BY POSTING a diversity of case studies showing how local events are influenced by policies at the macro level. 
  
please help us make this information tool a success.  We seek contributions from people in the People's Health Movement, IPHC, Medact, the International Forum on Globalization, and SO MANY other progressive groups in making this resource grow. If you have a story to tell or a lesson to highlight, please send it TO US by email AT politicsofhealth at igc.org. MORE specifically, we are looking for:
  
Key Data and Talking Points. We ask your help in pulling together key, well-referenced data, relevant to the politics of health, which make clear points and can be used in constructing useful, convincing arguments. Especially useful are "talking points", I.E., POINTS that juxtapose facts in an eye-opening way. (For example, "Of the world's 100 biggest economies, 51 are transnational corporations and only 49 are nations."  Or "WHO estimates that an additional $1 billion per year is needed to halve the incidence of TB by 2020.  "The world spends $10/CAPITA per year on perfumes and cosmetics, $15 Billion a year on golf, $30 billion a year on pet food, and $4,000 billion a day on international speculative investments (the global casino)."

Policy and Situational Analysis - We are looking for clear, well-referenced analysEs of government or global policies, and critiques of international bodies OR OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS (right now, especially concerning AIDS, but also on any other health-related issue). We particularly want give an opportunity to TRADITIONALLY marginalized groups to voice their concerns. Send us your own writings, or any information/articles you consider important, on political aspects of the AIDS/TB or other public health issues.  

Links and Interaction. We especially want to draw on information/experiences that show how one particular concern ties into others, and how different forces affecting health interconnect. For example, the links between AIDS and TB are evident.  But we would also like help in documenting the links BETWEEN HIV/AIDS AND poverty, socioeconomic polarization (and its many causes), debt burden, SAPs, gender and racial inequality, chronic nutritional deficitS, drug companies, patent laws, trade policies, religious dogma, and  --perhaps above all else -- the multinational attempt to combat AIDS by disciplining the behavior of victims rather than confronting the need to build a more equitable, PEOPLE'S health-FRIENDLY, and sustainable socioeconomic environment.
  
Case Studies - Voices from around the world, especially those in remote localITIEes and villages, sharing success stories, as well as failures in their fight against AIDS (or other health issueS). You could tell us your own story and what impact your work is having.  Again, we especially want stories that draw a link between policies at the macro level and how they Affect people's health and lives at the micro level. A brief write-up will be adequate. A drawing or photo that drives home a key point can give the story more power, and will help bring the web site to life.
  
Positive Alternatives and Organized Action - To balance the discouraging data and critical analysEs with positive alternatives and possibilities of action, we hope to devote a separate section to 'Positive Alternatives'. We will document actionS taken and advocacy efforts to reform or transform unhealthy policies, from the local to THE global level. To contribute, you could describe a problem/issueS BEING faced by your community and then provide the actionS/strategIES taken to improve the situation. Others facing similar problems can learn from your experience.
  
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Please note: The PHA-exchange has generated a tremendous wealth of materials on every aspect of the Politics of Health. If well organized and indexed, it could be an invaluable resource, much of which we would like to make available through the Politics of Health Knowledge Network. But this will be a huge job. Is anyone linked to the PHA-exchange doing any kind of culling, organization by themes, or indexing of the messages that pour in? Has anybody pulled out the "best articles" or data on a particular theme, and filed it in an organized way?  Or is anybody prepared to take on any of these responsibilities? It would be a way of making the PHA-exchange a much more powerful and useful instrument, and through the Politics of Health Knowledge Network we hope to contribute to that process by making the data and information more easily and widely accessible.  Anyone interested? Please contact us.

Also please note:

THE Politics of Health is taking shape almost entirely based on voluntary efforts and will remain a collectively owned and sustained resource. 

We are looking not only for persons to send in useful material.  We also desperately need persons willing to help with the organization and presentation of the data and information. We are still figuring out the best way to present the information and lay out the web site, to PULL the related subjects together, and to map them within the larger picture.

We need all the help we can get.  If you think there is any way you might help, please contact us. 

Looking forward to your interest and involvement. 
  
David Werner,
Shefali Gupta,
'Politics of Heath Knowledge Network' 
Email: politicsofhealth at igc.org  
Website: www.politicsofhealth.org
  
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