PHM-Exch> Invitation to the World Open Health Assembly 2010 (WOHA - Starts today!)

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: <voices at worldcarecouncil.org>
To: news at worldcarecouncil.org


GENEVA, 17 May 2010  (IMAXI) - Health is a concern of everyone. From
personal physical fitness to the threats posed by growing global
pandemics, all people share an interest in improving the well-being of
themselves and others. We are all part of 'World Health'. The UN body
responsible for this is the World Health Organization (WHO) which is
governed by the World Health Assembly (WHA), its supreme decision-making
body. It generally meets in Geneva in May each year, and is attended by
delegations from all 193 Member States. Its main function is to determine
the policies of the WHO. The sixty-third WHA, from 17-21 May, will have a
special emphasis on the achievement of the health-related Millennium
Development Goals.

It will also address some fifty other health issues of concern to the WHO.
What is discussed and decided at the World Health Assembly will have an
impact on the well-being of all. Yet very few people outside of the
Delegates, (governments of 193 countries), WHO personnel and a handful of
NGOs are engaged with this meeting as 'stake-holders' - in fact, the vast
majority of the world population has never even heard of any of this.

As health is everyone's concern, this important WHA should be more
accessible to a wider audience. Towards this, the first World Open Health
Assembly (WOHA) is being held, online, to connect people from around the
globe with the WHA in Geneva.  WOHA was conceived just ten days before
this year's WHA — in face of growing pandemics and shrinking resources for
health investments, a rapid-response has been organized by the volunteers
of the IMAXI Cooperative, a new NGO of innovative people coming together
from two different spheres: public health activists and open-source IT
developers.

The World Open Health Assembly connects the high level meeting in Geneva
with anyone who wants to learn more about health policy and practice, who
may want to get involved in improving the world's health and to have a
voice that can be heard by the decision-makers. Reporting live from the
World Health Assembly, and relaying the World Open Health Assembly
participants' messages to the 'decision-makers', the IMAXI team will make
WOHA and WHA interactive, in real time. The new beta version of the WOHA
website, at www.imaxi.org, is being activated for the Official Opening of
the WHA - it's open source for open health.

WOHA 2010 offers live Twitter and RSS feeds, blogs, background
documentation from WHO and civil society organizations, and related video
clips from You-Tube. This first (rushed) WOHA will begin the building of
WOHA 2011, so that next year's World Health Assembly assembles more of the
world.

Welcome to the World Open Health Assembly (WOHA). From 9h30 (CET) on the
17th of May, at www.imaxi.org, or follow WOHA at
http://twitter.com/imaxi_woha  or  twit using the tag  #IMAXI_WOHA.

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