PHM-Exch> WHO Watch at the 132nd Executive Board a success in the continued struggle for ‘Health for All’

[Claudio Schuftan]

*WHO Watch at the 132nd Executive Board a success in
the continued struggle for ‘Health for All’
*
Monitoring by PHM activists at the WHO Executive Board demonstrates
that continued advocacy is needed to hold the WHO and its member
states accountable to the goal of ‘health for all’. The Global Health Watch
is a fruitful project that has be strengthened, expanded to encompass
national, regional, and global monitoring of health governance, and
sustained to ensure that global health is democratized in a manner that
will ensure the ‘right to health’.

PHM is part of the Democratising Global Health Initiative which runs the
project ‘WHO Watch’. WHO Watch is a resource for advocacy and
mobilisation as well as an intervention in global health governance. This
entails a number of activities at the global, regional and country levels to
hold member states accountable to the right to health. More on this
project can be found at www.ghwatch.org/whowatch

The recent WHO Watch at the 132nd session of the WHO Executive Board
in in Geneva span a two weeks period ( 18th – 29th January, 2013). Five
(5) watchers were involved in the watching process , supported by
members of the PHM global secretariat, members of the Democratising
Global Health coalition and other civil society activists in and outside
Geneva. The Watch was preceded by a three day workshop which
provided an orientation for new watchers. It also enabled a meeting of
the Democratising Global Health Governance Initiative in which activists
jointly prepared timely interventions to deliver to the Board.

At the WHO Executive Board, PHM watchers distributed a critical public
health analysis of the agenda to member state delegates
(http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/EB132_final%20co
mments.pdf ). This was offered to provide support, in particular for
developing country delegations and those who did not have time to read
the whole agenda (many delegations reported to the Board that they had
not read the entire agenda, in part because of late delivery by the WHO
Secretariat). Watchers also recorded the discussions of all the formal
meetings of the Executive Board on a live Skype channel for all outside
Geneva to follow. This was appreciated by many who could not physically
attend the meetings, but were able to follow the discussions of the Board
from wherever they were in the world! Daily reports of the proceedings
were also uploaded on the ghwatch.org site and distributed through PHM
Exchange (see ‘summary of proceedings’ for different dates at:
http://www.ghwatch.org/who-watch/eb132 ).

*Statements by the Watch team
*Watchers also delivered many interventions to the Board which were very
diverse, covering many aspects of the agenda including:
1) non-communicable diseases
(
http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/WHO%20EB%20132_MMI_PHM_NCDs%20
statement_complete.pdf ),
2) neglected tropical diseases
(
http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/WHO.EB132_NTD.MMI_.statement.pdf),
3) WHO reform
(
http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/EB%20132_PHM%20statement_WHO%20r
eform_GPW%20PB.pdf ),
4) follow up to the CEWG report on research and development
(
http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/WHO%20EB%20132_MMI_PHM_GEWC%2
0statement.pdf ),
5) spurious medicines
(
http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/EB132_SSFFC_PHM_statement.pdf),
6) the pandemic influenza preparedness framework
(
http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/EB132_PIP%20statement.pdf),
7) universal health coverage
(
http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/EB132_PHM_UHC%20statement.pdf)
and
8) the millennium development goals
(
http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/WHO%20EB%20132_MMI_PHM_MDGs%20
statement.pdf ).

The importance of these interventions is drawn from the fact that the
WHO Secretariat attempted to persuade PHM to alter its statements in
nearly all of the interventions. PHM was not persuaded however and the
interventions were timely, clear, and reflected the principles of the
Peoples Health Charter. Many times the DG, Margaret Chan nodded her
head in agreement with these statements, and at one point she explicitly
recognised Third World Network, a PHM member, in its involvement in
pandemic influenza SMTA2 negotiations. Watchers also distributed a daily
analysis of the agenda items to delegates in the mornings. In the
evening, watchers summarised the day’s discussions in a daily report and
posted these on the ghwatch.org website and to the PHM global email list.
The outcomes of the Executive Board meetings demonstrate that
continued pressure must be put on WHO and its member states to protect
public health and to remove the influence of the private sector. For
example, the outcome of the Draft Action Plan for the Prevention and
Control of NCDs 2013-2020 and the draft Mental Health Action Plan 2013-
20 20 was that the Secretariat will hold informal discussions with NGOs
and the private sector in March, with revisions of the plans to go to the
World Health Assembly in May. The Secretariat asked member states to
set and clarify the role of NGOS and the private sector. It is crucial that
PHM becomes involved in the discussions and holds member states
accountable so that corporate interests are not granted any role in these
plans.
*
Strengthening the Watch for the future*
The 132 session WHO Watch was a success as PHM continued to shapen
the deleibrations of member states and the WHO. The young activists
were involved in the watching akcnowledged that the experience had
deepened their understanding of the WHO processes and improved their
capacity to analyse and interpret the WHO reports. The team environment
was very supportive, which was needed in particular when the WHO
Secretariat attempted to pressure and intimidates activists to change PHM
statements.

The experience of working with other like-minded activists also was a
huge platform for networking and building alliances. In terms of capacity
building, activists who have completed this activity can clearly
demonstrate the skills they have learnt and developed through their
participation. The team environment and the sharing and rotation of roles
and responsibilities made it possible for each member of the team to gain
hands on experience in every department of the watchingprocess such as
analysing documents from a critical public health perspective, engaging
with delegates, recording and analysis of dicussions on the floor of the EB,
as well as building networks at the global and country levels. With this
experience, they are in a better position to train new activists at the
country, regional and global levels.

The above notwithstanding, the watching process can always be improved
in terms of what we do and how we do it. Regarding the pre Watch
workshops, it is suggested that PHM invite more NGO activists as a way to
facilitate alliances and make connections with delegates. Skype meetings
a few weeks prior to arriving at the workshops will also enable activists
from across the globe to connect with each other and potentially share
contacts. The workshops could be expanded to four days to enable further
time, but this dependents on resource availability . In terms of the
structure of the workshops, an emphasis on the functions of the WHO
such as who the WHO delegates are, how the WHO is structured, the
relationship between delegates and Ministries of Health, and how the
interaction at meetings takes place will help guide watchers, especially
new activists. It is also important to clarify plan at the workshops, and
the
interventions PHM will make for each member of the watching team to be
very clear about their roles at any given time, and to ensure that the
work load is fairly distributed to the team.

There is a strong need to maintain and expand the participation of
activists from developing countries. These activists are crucial because
they can deliver a message from the ground. These are very powerful
interventions. It has been observed that the Director General, WHO
Secretariat and delegates have stopped what they have been doing and
looked up to attentively and silently listen to the interventions from PHM
activists, particular those from developing countries. The power of the
voices from those who work at the ground level cannot be
underestimated. Regarding the number of watchers, a minimum number
of five for the Executive Board and seven for the World Health Assembly
is optimal. Watch projects of other organisations that comprise global
health governance is also needed, as well as at the regional and country
levels.

Regarding advocacy with delegates, watchers identified this activity as the
most difficult one which needs strengthening. This can be improved with
more backgrounding on who the delegates are, and connecting those who
have contacts with watchers as early as possible. Ideally, building
relationships at the country level and linking this back to the watch in
Geneva is crucial. In addition, PHM watchers need to make use of and
build on connections through their networks with other NGO activists.
Regarding logistics, the need to have watchers staying in one place is
crucial. Affordability of accommodation is a constant issue. PHM needs to
plan early to reduce costs, and potentially make use of connections
wherever the Watch is taking place to further reduce accommodation
costs.

The Global Health Watch project is fruitful in the struggle for ‘health for
all’. It is foremost an intervention in global, regional and national health
governance in which PHM engages directly with the organisations and
actors that govern global health. It is also a source of mobilisation for
activists to build alliances at these various levels and to make publicly
available, in real time, the discussions and decisions of these governing
bodies. It is further a source of capacity building for new activists, which
can be a baptism by fire whereby activists witness the struggle for health
play out in front of their eyes, they play a role in this struggle and they
develop the skills and confidence to continue to play a role in this
struggle.

Prepared by the Watchers Team in January 2013:
Alice Fabri
Belinda Townsend
Chiara Di Girolamo
Hor Sidua
Marianna Parisotto
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