PHM-Exch> Democratizing Global Health Governance and WHO Watch

[PHM Global Secretariat]

People's Health Movement <http://www.phmovement.org> (PHM) is committed to a
stronger World Health Organization (WHO), adequately funded, with
appropriate powers and owning the leading role in global health governance.
PHM follows closely the work of WHO, through the initiative ‘Democratizing
Global Health Governance <http://www.ghwatch.org/who-watch/ghg>’ which was
launched by the PHM and several international civil society networks in May
2010.

Within the framework of this initiative, the PHM has established a ‘WHO
Watch <http://www.ghwatch.org/who-watch>’. The watch aims primarily at
building capacity in supporting the WHO to regain its leadership role in
global health governance according to its Constitution. WHO Watch mobilises
a large number of health activists, civil society networks and academics to
provide resources and evidence-based critiques related to the secretariat
reports, draft resolutions, and other materials during the preparations to
the WHO governance meetings especially the Executive Board (EB) meetings and
the Assemblies.*

*From the beginning of May 2011 and during the 64th World Health Assembly
(WHA) of WHO, held from 16 to 24 May 2011, 30 members of the ‘WHO Watch’
group from over 20 countries have been working through the agenda of the
64th WHA with the assistance of high level experts from a number of
collaborating networks and NGOs. The following letters and statements on
some of the agenda items of the 64th WHA were drafted.*

**PHM letter to the 64th WHA
*Distinguished delegate to the 64th World Health Assembly,
[...] The following comments on some of the agenda items of the 64th WHA
were drafted for your kind consideration. *More:
English<http://www.phmovement.org/sites/www.phmovement.org/files/PHMLetter2WHADelegates110516.pdf>|
Español<http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/Puntos%20de%20discusi%C3%B3n%20durante%20la%2064a%20AMS.pdf>
*
*
**Statement to the 64th WHA, on agenda item 11: The Future of Financing for
WHO
**PHM calls upon WHO for accountability to people not dollars*
The WHO is facing a financial crisis: programmes, projects and staffing face
the prospect of being disbanded; the dominance of tied donor funding is
having a terrible effect on administration. The WHO is also suffering from a
crisis of identity and legitimacy; its role and mandate have been diluted
and usurped by the proliferation of new actors in the field of global
health. Inefficiencies within the organisational processes remain
unresolved. *More:*
*عربى<http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/Future%20Financing%20of%20WHO_PHM%20letter_WHA2011_Arabic.pdf>|
English<http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/Future%20Financing%20of%20the%20WHO%20-%20PHM%20May%202011.pdf>|
Français<http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/FutureFinancingof%20WHO_PHM%20letter_FR.pdf>|
Español<http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/Future%20Financing%20of%20the%20WHO%20-%20PHM%20May%202011%20Spanish.pdf>
*

*Statement read by the PHM at the 64th WHA on future financing of
WHO*. More<http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/FutureFinancing_PHMStatement_Final_110517.pdf>|
Hear
it on Youtube <http://www.ghwatch.org/who-watch/WHA64/PHM-Statement>

*Statement read by the PHM at the WHA on infant and young child nutrition
*Both under-nutrition and obesity are linked to the increasing dependence of
poor countries on high-income countries for food security, which has been
reinforced by trade agreements, climate change, and biofuels. Nutrition
strategies should address the complex socioeconomic and political
determinants of malnutrition. Governments and international bodies, like
WHO, must advocate for the regulation of the trade and marketing of
unhealthy foodstuffs, so as to protect the health of populations – and of
children in particular – from aggressive corporate influence.* More
>><http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/PHM%20statement%20on%20infant%20and%20child%20nutrition_WHA64_final.pdf>

Statement read at the 64th WHA on Non Communicable Diseases*
*Statement by Medicus Mundi International
<http://www.medicusmundi.org/en>(MMI) and PHM
*
The NCDs initiative is too narrow in particular we believe it should include
mental health. It is disappointing that there is no reference to the work of
the CSDH in the report. Unhealthy behaviors do play an important role in
determining NCDs however there are structural determinants like education,
income, gender and ethnicity which are underlying causes of NCDs and
behavioral risk factors. Clearly there are important equity dimension of
NCDs as emphasized by CSDH and these variations are closely linked to the
social and environmental factors; not just individual behaviors. *More
>><http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/mmi-phm%20-%20statement-wha-64_13_12-ncds.pdf>
*

*Statement read at the 64th WHA on
Substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit medical products
*
*Statement by Thirld World Network <http://www.twnside.org.sg/>* (TWN)
We believe that every individual has a right to access safe, quality and
efficacious medicine and steps do need to be taken to ensure the safety,
quality and efficacy of medicines. *More
>><http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/counterfeits_TWN%20statement_WHA64.pdf>
*

*Time to untie the knots: the WHO reform and the need of democratizing
global health*
*Delhi Statement, coordinated by Medico International<http://www.medico.de/en/>
*
Health is a common good that demands collective responsibility. Instead,
structural violations of the right to health are produced by the dominant
market dynamics and the uncontrolled influence of profit-driven
transnational corporations, supported by the policies of international
financial and trade institutions – the International Monetary Fund, the
World Bank and the World Trade Organization. Such violations are often
unmonitored, unmeasured, and are too numerous to quantify. As they form part
of a process of systematic violations of other rights - to gender equality,
to water and food, to work and income, to housing and education - any
commitment for the right to health cannot be conceived in isolation from a
broader approach of universal social protection as a key policy to human
development. *More
>><http://www.phmovement.org/sites/www.phmovement.org/files/Delhi%20Statement%20-%20Medico%20International%20-%20May%202011.pdf>
*
*More information at:*

   - WHO Watch: http://www.ghwatch.org/who-watch
   - The 64th World Health Assembly through the eyes of PHM 'Watchers' -
   including daily reports: http://www.ghwatch.org/node/434

--
Global Secretariat
People's Health Movement (PHM)
Email: globalsecretariat at phmovement.org
Web: www.phmovement.org
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