PHM-Exch> Fwd: The struggle for health goes on: World Health Day special

[Health PD]

This week   In a jubilee year for the World Health Organization, we are
still far away from achieving Health for All. For the founders of the WHO,
health was “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being”,
not simply the absence of physical illness. Their vision did not translate
into practice, and people are still denied this fundamental human right,
simply because they live in a particular region or because they do not have
money to pay for care. Activists around the world have

The struggle for health goes on: World Health Day special
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/8bbd6e68?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
By People's Health Dispatch • 8 Apr 2023 View in browser
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This week

In a jubilee year for the World Health Organization, we are still far away
from achieving Health for All. For the founders of the WHO, health was
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/b125f4c1?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>“a
state of complete physical, mental and social well-being”, not simply the
absence of physical illness. Their vision did not translate into practice,
and people are still denied this fundamental human right, simply because
they live in a particular region or because they do not have money to pay
for care.

Activists around the world have seized the opportunity brought by this
World Health Day to mobilize and point to alternative directions to take.
Some of these included looking back at existing concepts, like
Comprehensive Primary Health Care
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/571ba346?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>,
which have been cast aside under neoliberal capitalism.

In this thematic issue of the *People’s Health Dispatch*, prepared in
collaboration with the People’s Health Movement’s thematic group on health
systems, we zoom in on the struggles for better, fairer, and more caring
health systems. Deepika Joshi and Leonardo Mattos bring an overview
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/d7803e2f?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
of the most important health discussions that marked this April 7.

Ongoing social and economic crises in Lebanon
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/ddd960b9?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>and
Sri Lanka
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/e5273d6c?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
have brought upon the weakening of health services. Both countries are
facing shortages of essential materials and funds that would strengthen
public health systems.

Activists in India
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/de7ad273?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>,
Sudan
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/ef7d8a1f?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>,
and the Philippines
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/97a10c5e?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
wage their own struggles against attempts to privatize health services and
vilify health workers.

In this increasingly bleak scenario, we can still see glimmers of hope. In
Latin America, newly elected governments are choosing to push for health
reforms that will put people first. The government of Gustavo Petro and
Francia Márquez in Colombia
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/232e91c0?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
is proposing a major reform of the health system that would benefit most of
the population.

Such glimmers of hope are one of the driving forces behind health
movements, as recognized by many activists who marked the health movement
at local and global levels, like Amit Sengupta and David Sanders. Their
reflections on the structural determinants of global health remain as
important as ever, as illustrated by a second edition of Sanders’ landmark
book *The Struggle for Health
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/9f5bc142?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*.
Tinashe Njanji met with co-editor Wim De Ceukelaire to discuss the book’s
importance 38 years after it was first published.

*The next edition of the People’s Health Dispatch will be published in the
week of April 17.*
------------------------------
Featured articles

*World Health Day 2023: continuing the struggle for health
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/22026039?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

At the 75th year anniversary of the WHO, people continue to fight against
inequities and the consequences of privatization of health care

*Colombia’s health system could finally see changes that put people over
profit
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/eec5beb0?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

The health reform proposal of the Petro government has sparked a heated
debate, as the health insurance corporations and conservatives try to block
it

*The changing face of healthcare in Lebanon: navigating an economic crisis*
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/a63e2f32?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

Lebanon’s health system is being reshaped by the ongoing economic and
social crisis in the country. After years of prioritization of hospitals
and tertiary care, it seems a re-evaluation of the importance of primary
health care is in order

*Strengthening public health services imperative as crisis continues in Sri
Lanka
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/5b23fd08?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

As the social and economic crisis in Sri Lanka continues, health activists
call for prioritization of the public health system on the occasion of
World Health Day
------------------------------
The Struggle for Health: now and then

*Video: ’The Struggle for Health’: 38 years later, the book remains as
relevant as ever
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/f99cd1e9?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

Tinashe Njanji from PHM South Africa and Wim De Ceakulaire, co-editor of
the second edition of “The Struggle for Health”, discuss the relevance of
the book 38 years after it was first published

<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/7ed4287e?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

*Our fight is for the right to health, not for charity and mercy
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/33c136bb?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

Across the world, activists are struggling for the rejection of market
economy theories and for establishing the theory of equity and justice to
defend the right of people to health
------------------------------
Local struggles

*Video: Healthcare situation in conflict ridden Sudan
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/5d43c8fa?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

Rawia Mohammed, a health policy officer based in Sudan's capital city
Khartoum talks about the difficulties in providing healthcare in a conflict
ridden country

<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/9292003f?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

*Video: Challenges facing the health system in the Philippines
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/798f42c1?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

Jillian Francis Lee, a primary care physician and public health officer in
the Philippines, associated with the People's Health Movement in the
country, talks about the problems facing the health system in the
Philippines

<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/969b8440?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

*Video (Hindi): Fight against private hospitals overcharging COVID patients
in India
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/e52be84d?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

Shakuntala Bhalerao from Jan Aarogya Abhiyan in the Indian state of
Maharashtra talks about how the movement fought for justice for patients
who were overcharged by private hospitals for their COVID-19 treatment

<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/5ebc09ff?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
------------------------------
Data speaks
Source: Salut, Drets, Acció and the People's Health Movement Europe
campaign materials for April 7 campaign
------------------------------
In case you missed it
People over profit: a critical paradigm shift to realize health for all
Health activists around the world have united on World Health Day (April 7)
to amplify the call for strengthened public health systems that are
patient- and worker-centered, reflect a fair distribution of resources, and
challenge colonial narratives of decision making and power.
Speaking of Medicine and Health•PLOS Global Public Health
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/394d2834?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
15 million in the US to be kicked off of public health benefits : Peoples
Dispatch
Millions are to lose Medicaid/CHIP benefits in the coming months as
pre-pandemic income eligibility restrictions have returned
Peoples Dispatch•Peoples Dispatch
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/ff3a18e3?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
April 7 2023 – Our Health: Not for sale
Join PHM-USA, Right Care Alliance, and PNHP NY Metro for an online event to
talk about privatization of health in the US and what we can do–together–to
change it. Register now Privatization of heal…
PHM-NA•PHM-USA
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/a2d982b5?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
*People’s Health Dispatch is an initiative of Peoples Dispatch and the
People's Health Movement*
People's Health Dispatch © 2023 – Unsubscribe
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