PHM-Exch> Fwd: Bulletin #53: Rethinking health priorities

[Health PD]

This fortnight   More than 4,000 delegates will participate in the 17th
National Health Conference in Brasília from July 2 to 5. They will discuss
strategies for strengthening the Unified Health System (SUS). President
Lula and Health Minister Nísia Trindade will be in attendance, working
together with the delegates to develop a plan for public health as the SUS
recovers from the consequences of Jair Bolsonaro's administration.
Meanwhile, governments in high-income countries face the consequen

Bulletin #53: Rethinking health priorities
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/eb20829b?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
By People's Health Dispatch • 1 Jul 2023 View in browser
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This fortnight

More than 4,000 delegates will participate in the 17th National Health
Conference
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/3521b453?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
in Brasília from July 2 to 5. They will discuss strategies for
strengthening the Unified Health System (SUS). President Lula and Health
Minister Nísia Trindade will be in attendance, working together with the
delegates to develop a plan for public health as the SUS recovers from the
consequences of Jair Bolsonaro's administration.

Meanwhile, governments in high-income countries face the consequences of
their austerity policies. These policies have led to a shortage of health
workers, creating medical deserts in parts of Europe and North America.
Some governments are slowly increasing training plans for health workers
but overlook the importance of improving working conditions to retain
existing workers.

The British government recently announced a long-term plan
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/55791bd6?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>to
strengthen the health workforce. However, health workers' organizations
denounced it for ignoring the grievances raised by nurses, ambulance
drivers, junior doctors, and other workers in recent months. Nurses in
Austin, Texas, organized a strike with similar demands as their
counterparts in England. We have a photo gallery showcasing their actions.

While governments in high-income countries hesitate to allocate sufficient
resources to public health systems, they have funneled billions of dollars
into private health companies through institutions like the European
Investment Bank. As warned by health activists and a new report by Oxfam,
these investments
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/97423a38?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>benefit
institutions known to imprison patients unable to pay medical bills and
price essential procedures beyond patients' means.

Misplaced priorities among health and public officials in high-income
countries not only affect the lives and health of people in the Global
South but also the lives of the people who voted them into power. In the
United Kingdom, the failure to address the ongoing cost of living crisis,
particularly food inflation, has resulted in a significant decline in child
health
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/d773297d?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
and nutritional quality, with potential long-term consequences.

In the meantime, in Ghana
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/9c7eed78?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>,
women are mobilizing against heavy taxation on menstrual hygiene products,
which is adding to the burden faced by women and girls during the country's
worst economic crisis in a generation. We provide more information in a
video
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/d9b28e09?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
.

In Martinique
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/a26f7045?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>,
a popular movement is fighting for justice from the French state after
decades of exposure to chlordecone poisoning. We have a report on their
struggle, and the recent success of passing a historic resolution
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/2b881903?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>on
the health of Indigenous peoples at the World Health Assembly, in Spanish.
------------------------------
In focus

*Over 4.000 delegates gather to discuss future of Brazil’s iconic health
system
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/b160f440?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

Brazil’s 17th National Health Conference will be a crucial space for
defending the project of strengthening the public health system, which is
constantly under threat
------------------------------
Featured articles

*Private health companies prosper while healthcare access stagnates
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/fbbbc7f6?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

A new report by Oxfam shows how investments made by development finance
institutions from the Global North benefit private health companies rather
than people in need of health care

*Child nutrition in shambles: how the cost of living crisis is hurting
child health in the UK
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/9c9b5bef?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

A new series of reports show the devastating effects the cost of living
crisis is having on child nutrition in Britain

*Ghanaian activists reject high taxes on menstrual products in struggle to
“bleed with dignity”
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/56519144?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

On June 22, Ghanaian activists will take to the streets for the “Don’t Tax
My Period” march which is being organized by the women’s wing of the
Socialist Movement of Ghana and allied organizations. The mobilization
takes place as anger builds over the heavy taxation of menstrual hygiene
products

*UK government’s long-term health workforce plan fails to address existing
grievances
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/14575e4a?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

Rishi Sunak’s government has announced a ‘historic’ plan to build health
workforce over the next 15 years, but health workers’ organizations say it
fails to address the grievances that have been raised by health workers
------------------------------

*Video: Activists in Ghana march to the parliament demanding tax-free
periods
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/19ab3a08?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

The activists have vowed to return to the streets if taxes on menstrual
hygiene products are not removed

<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/5b946884?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
------------------------------
Español

*Las movilizaciones contra los daños causados por la clordecona cobran
fuerza en Martinica y Guadalupe
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/f71737cb?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

Los habitantes de Martinica y Guadalupe llevan décadas enfrentándose a las
consecuencias del envenenamiento por clordecona. Una nueva iniciativa ha
anunciado que está dispuesta a llevar adelante la lucha por la justicia

*La resolución de la Asamblea Mundial de la Salud sobre la salud de los
pueblos indígenas es un momento histórico
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/e33c2b6d?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>*

Ricardo Weibe Nascimento Costa, Viceministro de Salud de los Pueblos
Indígenas de Brasil, reflexiona sobre la importancia de la histórica
resolución sobre la salud de los pueblos indígenas en la 76ª Asamblea
Mundial de la Salud
------------------------------
Photo gallery: Austin nurses on strike
Source: National Nurses United
------------------------------
In case you missed it
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The European Commission has contracted Pfizer and several European
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Reuters•Maggie Fick
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/a8929302?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
Medicare Advantage Insurers Are Making Bank by Denying Care to Seniors
Care denials by Medicare Advantage insurers are threatening the
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people on Medicare should get the treatments that are recommended by a
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•Matthew Cunningham-Cook
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/22090ee5?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
Public debt, tax reform and the right to health in Burundi
Burundi has, over the years, been beset with civil wars, ethnic violence,
poverty, and economic instability. In 2008, Burundi became so indebted that
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Amnesty International
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/5114aa00?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
First, Do No Harm: Examining the impact of the IFC’s support to private
healthcare in India | Oxfam International
Oxfam International•Author: Anjela Taneja and Amitabha Sarkar
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/6a6a9609?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
Sick Development | Oxfam International
Oxfam International•Author: Anna Marriott.
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/3307b772?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
Development Banks Unite To Boost Primary Health Care Financing - Health
Policy Watch
Three multilateral development banks and the World Health Organization
(WHO) announced the launch of an investment platform on Thursday aimed at
supporting
Health Policy Watch•Kerry Cullinan
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/48ce2549?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
*People’s Health Dispatch is an initiative of Peoples Dispatch and the
People's Health Movement*
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