PHM-Exch> Fwd: Bulletin #31: Public health emergencies of ceaseless concern

Fri Aug 5 10:46:33 PDT 2022

This fortnight The World Health Organization declared the global monkeypox
outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 23 July. The
reaction to the outbreak is drawing criticism as the presence of the
orthopox virus caused little concern while it was limited to West and
Central Africa, sparking a reaction only once it spread into the West. The
denunciati

Bulletin #31: Public health emergencies of ceaseless concern
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/bulletin-31/>
By People's Health Dispatch – 05 Aug 2022 – View online →
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/bulletin-31/>

This fortnight

The World Health Organization declared the global monkeypox
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/08/01/as-monkeypox-cases-mount-need-of-the-hour-is-an-equitable-and-effective-response/>outbreak
a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 23 July. The reaction
to the outbreak is drawing criticism as the presence of the orthopox virus
caused little concern while it was limited to West and Central Africa,
sparking a reaction only once it spread into the West.

The denunciations also address the unequal distribution of vaccines and
therapeutics available to alleviate the spread of monkeypox. Countries
which have been battling the virus for decades are left without a single
vaccine dose, while countries in the Global North have millions of doses in
their national stockpiles. The situation resembles the experience of the
rollout of Covid-19 <https://tinyurl.com/phd31covid19> vaccines,
diagnostics, and therapeutics, which is still heavily influenced by the
interests of transnational corporations.

The power of transnational corporations relies heavily on the current
framework of Intellectual Property (IP) privileges. We met with Thiru
Balasubramaniam <https://youtu.be/uW5R5Tawpdo> from Knowledge Ecology
International to find out more about discussions that have taken place at
recent World Intellectual Property Organization meetings.

The lives of people around the world continue to be influenced by social,
ecological, and commercial determinants of health. In the Kibera
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/08/04/how-commercialization-and-privatization-deplete-peoples-health-in-kenyas-urban-settlements/>urban
settlement in Kenya, community members warn about the interlinkages between
bad living conditions, poor health, and inaccessibility of health care due
to commercialization.

Protests and mobilizations for the rights of health workers continue
in the United
Kingdom
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/07/28/junior-doctors-in-the-uk-protest-government-disregard-and-demand-pay-rise/>
and in the United States
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/07/27/us-political-prisoner-mutulu-shakur-has-six-months-to-live-will-courts-finally-grant-compassionate-release/>.
While junior doctors in the UK fight for better working conditions and an
increase of salaries to match the cost of living crisis, activists in the
US are demanding the compassionate release of revolutionary leader and
health worker Mutulu Shakur.

In *Data speaks*, we share an episode of the graphic series on agriculture
and food security published by Focus on the Global South
<https://focusweb.org/india_graphic_series/>.
------------------------------

*How commercialization and privatization deplete people’s health in Kenya’s
urban settlements
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/08/04/how-commercialization-and-privatization-deplete-peoples-health-in-kenyas-urban-settlements/>*

Sharon Joan, a community member from the Kibera urban settlement, talks
about the intersections of commercialization and environmental factors on
the health of people living in urban settlements in Kenya

*As monkeypox cases mount, need of the hour is an equitable and effective
response*
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/08/01/as-monkeypox-cases-mount-need-of-the-hour-is-an-equitable-and-effective-response/>

The World Health Organization declared the global monkeypox outbreak a
Public Health Emergency of International Concern, calling upon countries to
roll out a public health response and ensure access to the necessary
vaccines and medicines

*Inequities in access to COVID-19 medical products continue as power of
corporations expands
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/08/05/inequities-in-access-to-covid-19-medical-products-continue-as-power-of-corporations-expands/>*

A recent report on COVID-19-related crises points to links between the
growing power of transnational corporations in shaping the pandemic
response and reduced access to key medical products
------------------------------

*Video: The Pandemic Age and the debates around intellectual property
<https://youtu.be/uW5R5Tawpdo>*

Thiru Balasubramaniam of Knowledge Ecology International and Gargeya
Telakapalli of the People's Health Movement discuss the recent debates
around intellectual property rights in the context of access to medicines
and health for all
  <https://youtu.be/uW5R5Tawpdo>
------------------------------

*US political prisoner Mutulu Shakur has six months to live. Will courts
finally grant compassionate release?
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/07/27/us-political-prisoner-mutulu-shakur-has-six-months-to-live-will-courts-finally-grant-compassionate-release/>*

Renowned revolutionary leader and health worker Mutulu Shakur has spent
over three decades in prison. As his cancer worsens, activists are
demanding his release

*Junior doctors in the UK protest government disregard and demand pay rise
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/07/28/junior-doctors-in-the-uk-protest-government-disregard-and-demand-pay-rise/>*

Over the last two decades, the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK has
been substantially weakened due to underfunding and understaffing. A good
share of its staff, including young doctors, are now on the verge of
leaving the NHS due to overwork and lack of decent wages
------------------------------
Data speaks

*Focus on the Global South *launched a graphic series
<https://focusweb.org/india_graphic_series/> about food security in India,
which explores the complexity of agriculture and food sovereignty in India
through the investigations of characters Soni and Lucky.
------------------------------
US labor fights back against Amazon’s expansion into healthcare : Peoples
Dispatch
Amazon has violated user data privacy multiple times. Now, the corporation
will have access to patient medical records, eliciting protest across US
labor organizations
Peoples Dispatch•Peoples Dispatch
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/07/27/us-labor-fights-back-against-amazons-expansion-into-healthcare/>
Monkey Pox: Monitoring, Awareness Keys to Control, Says Dr Satyajit Rath |
NewsClick
The Monkey Pox virus has spread to over 75 countries, including India,
infecting over 16,000 people globally.
Newsclick•<a href=”/taxonomy/term/16077″ hreflang=“en”>Sandipan Talukdar</a>
<https://www.newsclick.in/Monkey-Pox-Monitoring-Awareness-Keys-Control-Says-Dr-Satyajit-Rath>
The Baby Formula Shortage Is a Crisis of Capitalism
The Right has seized on the US baby formula shortage to discredit the Biden
administration. It’s correct to harp on the administration’s failures — but
the crisis is due to the dysfunctions of an economic system of which
Republicans are the biggest champions.
•Liza Featherstone
<https://jacobin.com/2022/07/baby-formula-shortage-biden-gop-capitalism>
PSI condemns Attacks on Health Care Workers in DRC
Six health centres were burnt down in the Democratic Republic of Congo
resulting in the death of patients and members of the nursing staff. PSI,
and its affiliate SOLSICO, call on the Government to ensure that health
care workers are protected in the performance of their duties and can carry
out the…
Public Services International The global union federation of workers in
public services•Boubacar Bobaoua
<https://publicservices.international/resources/news/psi-condemns-attacks-on-health-care-workers-in-drc?id=13184&lang=en>
“It’s Already Happening”: Ugandan Activist Vanessa Nakate on Deadly Climate
Crisis in Africa
As heat waves scorch much of the globe, we look at who bears the brunt of
the climate emergency and go to Kampala, Uganda, to speak with climate
justice activist Vanessa Nakate. “The climate crisis has been here. It has
been impacting the lives of so many people on the African continent, which
is r…
Democracy Now!
<https://www.democracynow.org/2022/7/21/vanessa_nakate_global_south_africa_uganda>
The Three COVID crises and Multistakeholderism
Transnational Institute•Harris Gleckman
<https://www.tni.org/en/publication/the-three-covid-crises-and-multistakeholderism>
*People’s Health Dispatch is an initiative of Peoples Dispatch and the
People's Health Movement*
Peoples Health Dispatch © 2022 – Unsubscribe
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/unsubscribe/?uuid=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail>
Virus-free.
www.avast.com
<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20220805/24aa92fd/attachment.htm>