PHM-Exch> Fwd: Bulletin #16: New hope for people-centric healthcare with incoming progressive governments

[Ana Vračar]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Peoples Health Dispatch <health at peoplesdispatch.org>
Date: Fri, Jan 7, 2022 at 11:05 PM
Subject: Bulletin #16: New hope for people-centric healthcare with incoming
progressive governments
To: <ana at phmovement.org>


This fortnight The results of two recent elections - in Chile and in
Honduras - have brought hope of a new life and freedom for health systems
which have been burdened by a difficult history of neoliberalism and
corruption. We explore what is expected from the governments of Gab

Bulletin #16: New hope for people-centric healthcare with incoming
progressive governments
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/bulletin-16/>
By People's Health Dispatch – 07 Jan 2022 – View online →
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/bulletin-16/>

This fortnight

The results of two recent elections - in Chile
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/01/07/end-of-the-road-for-chiles-neoliberal-healthcare-system/>and
in Honduras
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/01/07/rebuilding-healthcare-system-is-top-priority-for-incoming-government-in-honduras/>-
have brought hope of a new life and freedom for health systems which have
been burdened by a difficult history of neoliberalism and corruption. We
explore what is expected from the governments of Gabriel Boric and Xiomara
Castro together with local health activists and experts.

Latin America and the Caribbean remain an important place of inspiration
for building international solidarity in the times of the pandemic,
especially thanks to Cuba. Following the island’s success in vaccinating
its own population, Cuban scientists have welcomed volunteers from Italy to
explore the effects of an additional Soberana shot
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/12/20/the-cuban-soberana-vaccine-is-not-due-to-a-miracle-but-the-consequence-of-political-decisions/>
for those originally vaccinated with non-Cuban vaccines.

As 2021 came to a close, vaccinations in Africa
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/12/22/as-vaccinations-lag-behind-covid-19-cases-exceed-9-2-million-in-africa/>
were still only a fraction of those in the rest of the world. The number of
cases on the continent continued to rise as a result, and the official
Covid-19 toll is likely underestimated because of the eroded capacities for
data reporting and testing limitations.

Meanwhile, health workers in Turkey
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/01/07/white-coats-shine-a-light-on-turkeys-precarious-health-system/>organized
a series of marches and a strike because of the government’s unwillingness
to address the violence they experience in the workplace, as well as
financial issues experienced by nurses, doctors and other health workers
following the currency crash of 2021.

We look at Covid-19 diagnostics in more detail in a new video interview
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RCWItfC-Yo> with Dr Satyajit Rath, who
explains the science of diagnostic technologies and misplaced priorities in
research and development. He says that widespread testing remains key in
the later stages of the pandemic, and it is crucial to expand testing
capacities in the Global South.

In *Data Speaks*, we look at how many people were fully vaccinated and
boosted against Covid-19 in different parts of the world: while rich
countries continue to boast about donations, it seems that more people in
the Global North have received booster shots than people in the Global
South receiving only the first two doses.
------------------------------

*End of the road for Chile’s neoliberal healthcare system?
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/01/07/end-of-the-road-for-chiles-neoliberal-healthcare-system/>*

After the victory of Gabriel Boric in Chile’s presidential elections, the
country awaits long-needed changes to its health system

*Rebuilding healthcare system is top priority for incoming government in
Honduras
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/01/07/rebuilding-healthcare-system-is-top-priority-for-incoming-government-in-honduras/>*

Carmen Madrid of the People’s Health Movement discussed the impact of
National Party rule on the healthcare system and what is needed to revive it

*“The Cuban Soberana vaccine is not due to a miracle but the consequence of
political decisions”
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/12/20/the-cuban-soberana-vaccine-is-not-due-to-a-miracle-but-the-consequence-of-political-decisions/>*

>From November 15 to 25, 2021, 35 Italian volunteers participated in a
clinical trial on the Soberana vaccine in Havana, Cuba. Thanks to its
public and high quality biotechnological research and health care system,
the Caribbean island is the only low-income country worldwide to have made
its own COVID-19 vaccines

*As vaccinations lag behind, COVID-19 cases exceed 9.2 million in Africa
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/12/22/as-vaccinations-lag-behind-covid-19-cases-exceed-9-2-million-in-africa/>*

To understand the systemic issues hampering Africa’s efforts against the
pandemic, Peoples Dispatch interviewed Dr. Ahmed Kalebi, president of the
East African Division of International Academy of Pathology (IAP), and
members of the People’s Health Movement, Prof. Leslie London and senior
lecturer Lauren Paremoer from the University of Cape Town

*White coats shine a light on Turkey’s precarious health system*
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/01/07/white-coats-shine-a-light-on-turkeys-precarious-health-system/>

Health workers of all profiles continue to protest difficult working
conditions, low salaries and workplace violence in Turkey
------------------------------

*Video: How do we ensure better equity in testing for COVID-19?
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RCWItfC-Yo>*

Immunologist Dr. Satyajit Rath talks about diagnostics, the science behind
various kinds of tests, and questions of inequity, as well as the
strategies that could have been and can be followed to address the issue
  <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RCWItfC-Yo>
------------------------------
Data speaks
------------------------------
In case you missed it
The Highest Attainable Standard of Health Is a Fundamental Right of Every
Human Being: The First Newsletter (2022)
Despite the comprehensive health clauses in international treaties from the
UN 1946 Constitution to 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration, a toxic culture of
routine disregard for the well-being of ordinary people continues to be the
norm.
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research•January 6, 2022
<https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/covid-health-catastrophe/>
WHO Member States Fail To Agree On Raising Assessed Contributions - Key
Element Of Global Health Agency’s Finance Reform - Health Policy Watch
Big pre-holiday hopes that WHO member states might agree on a sweeping
financial reforms to put the World Health Organization’s $3 billion annual
budget on a
Health Policy Watch•Elaine Ruth Fletcher
<https://healthpolicy-watch.news/who-member-states-fail-to-reach-agreement-on-key-element-in-who-finance-reform/>
A case of double-speak on pharma patents
While India is pushing for waiver of IP rights for Covid medication at the
WTO, at home it is open to monopolistic practices
The Hindu BusinessLine•Jyotsna Singh
<https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/a-case-of-double-speak-on-pharma-patents/article38057747.ece>
London’s iconic medical research university grapples with structural racism
: Peoples Dispatch
Staff and students of color are under-represented at the senior level, have
fewer prospects of getting promotions, and are more likely to be employed
on short-and-fixed-term contracts, the London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine’s own review report concluded
Peoples Dispatch•Sandipan Talukdar
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/12/25/londons-iconic-medical-research-university-grapples-with-structural-racism/>
Building “The World Together” from 2022
The Second Special Session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) which ended
at the beginning of the month appears to have set the stage for building
the world together in what might very well be an age of pandemics.
Public Services International The global union federation of workers in
public services•Baba Aye
<https://publicservices.international/resources/news/building-the-world-together-from-2022?id=12592&lang=en>
Learning the Lessons of the NHS Strike Ballot
Last week, trade unionists working in the NHS failed to meet the 50%
threshold in a strike action ballot. To build the industrial strength so
many NHS staff need, we have to understand why.
•Helen O’Connor
<https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/12/nhs-strike-ballot-pay-rise-organising-trade-unions>
Surplus Doses in US and UK can Vaccinate all of Africa | NewsClick
The prevailing vaccine inequity gets starker as the Omicron variant
spreads. Presently, the surplus doses from the US, the UK, and Canada can
more than cover the requirements of unvaccinated Africa.
NewsClick•Richa Chintan
<https://www.newsclick.in/COVID-19-Vaccination-Persisting-Inequity-between-Rich-Poor-Countries-Endangers-All>
*People’s Health Dispatch is an initiative of Peoples Dispatch and the
People's Health Movement*
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