PHA-Exch> Fw: Health Panel-- South Asian Peoples Assembly- 19th July

Thu Jul 17 04:56:53 PDT 2008

From:
Adv Kamayani Bali Mahabal
South Asia Advocacy Coordinator
Women's Health and Rights Advocacy Partnership (WHRAP)
Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre For Women (ARROW)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
website: http://www.arrow.org.my

Dear  Friends 
Please find below the health panel note and the program  for the South Asia Health Assembly beginning in Colombo from 18th July- 20th July 2008. 

Friends in Colombo do join us. 

For more information please check the website: http://www.peoplespacesl.org/aboutus.php

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"TOWARDS HEALTH FOR ALL – ADDRESSING THE SOUTH ASIAN DILEMMA"

 Access to basic health services was affirmed as a fundamental human right by the Declaration of Alma-Ata in 1978. The reality is that 30 years on in 2008, people in South Asia still do not have equitable access to even basic services..The SAARC region has one of the poorest health indicators in the world with almost 40% of the total global burden of deaths occurring in the region's four countries alone — it houses the largest number of people with micronutrient deficiencies and diabetes; carries 40% of the world's tuberculosis burden, and has a high burden of cardiovascular diseases and one of the worst indicators for reproductive health in the world. The under-5 child mortality rates are among the highest in the world and almost 70% of the entire global burden of low birth weight occurs in South Asia. According to the most recent estimates of WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF and World Bank, in 2005, 99% of the 536,000 maternal deaths occurred in developing countries of these 36% were in South Asia including Afghanistan. India had the largest number of maternal deaths at 117000, followed by Bangladesh and Pakistan in that order; that maternal mortality decreased annually at less than 1% between 1990 and 2005 is a cause of grave concern. Enormous inequities in the provision of health care and services, skewed priorities compounded by the tumult and conflict in the states of the region contribute to the abysmal state of health of large number of the region's population. 

In most South Asian countries, excluding Sri Lanka, the private medical sector out-performs the public sector. Access to medical care is increasingly determined not by need, but by the ability to pay. The introduction of privatization of health has lead to the collapse of the Public Health System and the emergence of a exploitative profit making private sector that the poor can hardly afford has created a divided system - one for the rich and the other for the poor reinforcing the distance and polarisation between the two groups. A negative impact of globalisation-liberalisation-privatisation policies is the systemic weakening of public health delivery that is accompanied by declining and/or stagnant budgets and is resulting in the deterioration of quality of care. The gradual withdrawal of the state from investments in public health services, selective primary healthcare provisions and proliferation of an unregulated private medical sector are exacerbating the vulnerability of the poor and the marginalized. 

These issues must be viewed in the backdrop of enormous developments in many fields and the rapid growth of private enterprise. India leads most of the world in information technology; both Pakistan and India boast of nuclear weapons and sophisticated missile delivery systems (and have been on the brink of nuclear conflict). Multiple incongruities and misplaced priorities lie at the heart of the South Asian dilemma, where developments in technology and industrialization have failed to bridge the urban-rural divide and remove pervasive poverty and social inequity. In particular the low status of women in South Asia, especially among its rural populations, is of grave concern. Poverty and gender inequity are not the only social issues that impact health in South Asia. The rapid growth of religious intolerance and obscurantism, feuds and armed conflict in the subcontinent over the past two or more decades, have had enormous implications on the physical and mental health of its population. The genesis of such upheavals has many dimensions including macroeconomic policies that exclude the poor and minority groups from benefits as well as from investments in human development. 

This panel on Health brings together social scientists and activists from the public health and social science domains in South Asia to discuss the various health issues and related concerns of the peoples of the region and deliberate on ways of making SAARC governments responsive and accountable for living up to the commitment of  providing Health for All.

Co-Organisers of the Health Panel

  a.. WHRAP-  South Asia:The Women's Health and Rights Advocacy Partnership is part of the vision shared by ARROW and her partners to move forward the sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda through advocacy across the region. WHRAP brings together women's organisations who are committed to strengthening civil society capacity to effectively advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), especially safe motherhood and young people's SRHR at the local, national and regional levels.Partners: Chetna  and Sahayog – India, Shirkat Gah- Pakistan, Naripokhkhoo and Bangladesh Women Coalition- Bangladesh  and Beyond Beijing Committee- Nepal . www.arrow.org.my

  a.. Peoples Health Movement- Srilanka: has its roots deep in the grassroots people's movement and owes its genesis to many health networks and activists who have been concerned by the growing inequities in health over the last 25 years. The PHM calls for a revitalisation of the principles of the Alma-Ata Declaration which promised Health for All by the year 2000 and complete revision of international and domestic policy that has shown to impact negatively on health status and systems. www.phmovement.org

  a.. Health Watch Forum is a network active in several north Indian states for advocacy and monitoring on reproductive health and rights. Healthwatch Forum maintains the Reprohealth Listserve which is used by advocates and concerned civil society members to communicate about maternal and reproductive health and rights across India. SAHAYOG is anchoring the secretariat of Healthwatch Forum. www.sahayogindia.org

§ Sama is  Resource Group for Women and Health is based in Delhi and was initiated by a group of women's health activists from different parts of India, who have been involved with women's empowerment and health for several years. Sama believes in confronting all forms of discrimination and emphasizes on equality, empowerment and rights of women, especially from marginalized communities, and perceives health from a gender, caste, class and rights perspective. www.samawomenshealth.org

  a.. Centre for Health Equity, Jaipur: is  an initiative focusing on issues of inequities and related topics in health sector.  It mobilizes disadvantaged citizens to petition the government and demand what is rightfully theirs. Focusing primarily on health equity and accessibility, the Centre  monitors issues such as access to primary health care, the Community AIDS Awareness Program, State level advocacy programs regarding coercive population programs. www.prayaschittor.org/salientf.htm 

Panel- Basic Needs- Health

"TOWARDS HEALTH FOR ALL

SOUTH ASIAN DILEMMA"

Date- 19th July

Time- 2.00pm- 4.30pm

Venue: Yamuna- (Tent )

      1
     Conflict and Health Issues –                                               

      -         Peoples Health Movement- Sri Lanka--  Sirimal

      -         Women Health Rights Advocacy Partnership- Nepal- Bina Pradhan

       2.00-  2.40 pm

      2
     Health Care Financing and Universal Access to Health     

      Centre of Human Rights and Social Justice - Abhijit - India 

     2.40-   3.00pm

      3
     Maternal Mortality--- South Asian Crisis

      WHRAP- Pakistan and India- Indu Kapoor                                                                              

     3.00-    3.20 pm

      4
     Indian Women's Health Charter-  

      Indian Women Health Movement/ WHRAP -  

      Kamayani Bali- Mahabal

     3.20-  3.40pm

      5
     Open Forum- Discussion-

      "Issues and Concerns"

      Moderator-Narendra Gupta, 

      Centre for Health Equity, Jaipur

     3.40-  4.30pm

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