PHM-Exch> Fwd: Bulletin #73: 5th People's Health Assembly focuses on war's toll amidst Gaza crisis

[Health PD]

 This fortnight For over six months, Israel has waged an unprecedented war
on health workers and health infrastructure in Palestine. The recent
attacks on Al-Shifa Hospital, which saw Israeli armed forces destroy Gaza's
once-largest health institution, have been described as a devastating act
against the heart of the Strip’s health system. Despite this, support and
solidarity for health workers in Palestine continue to grow worldwide. In
Belgium, the organization Doctors for the People has

Bulletin #73: 5th People's Health Assembly focuses on war's toll amidst
Gaza crisis
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/94664613?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
By People's Health Dispatch • 8 Apr 2024 View in browser
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This fortnight

For over six months, Israel has waged an unprecedented war on health
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/9f8a8e92?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
workers and health infrastructure in Palestine. The recent attacks on
Al-Shifa
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/a1855c98?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
Hospital, which saw Israeli armed forces destroy Gaza's once-largest health
institution, have been described as a devastating act against the heart of
the Strip’s health system.

Despite this, support and solidarity for health workers in Palestine
continue to grow worldwide. In Belgium
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/812d122d?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>,
the organization Doctors for the People has made it a priority to extend
solidarity to the health sector in Palestine, building upon their
collaboration with the organization AWDA.

Solidarity with Palestine was a focal point at the launch of the 5th
People's Health Assembly
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/0cc4f67f?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
(PHA 5), held from April 7 to 11 in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The Assembly
gathered over 600 activists, health workers, and researchers to explore the
future of global health amid political and economic crises.

Participants of the Assembly are addressing challenges through five
thematic axes, focusing on the transformation of health systems, including
the planning and financing of public health systems. In the lead-up to the
PHA, and with the Indian election cycle in view, health activists unveiled
a Health Manifesto
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/5af8d782?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
that outlines priorities to ensure universal access to healthcare.

India is also facing significant changes to regulations in the field of
intellectual property and patents. Revisions of patent rules
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/4359b140?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
are now threatening to reduce access to medicines not only in India, but in
other countries as well.

Discussions at the Assembly also cover the Pandemic Treaty
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/e846cfcb?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>,
especially significant following the World Health Organization members’
recent decision to extend negotiations around the new mechanism.

Finally, the Assembly will delve into issues concerning gender justice in
health, the impact of war and occupation on health, ancestral knowledge,
and ecosystem health. Within this thematic stream, conversations will also
tackle food systems. This includes initiatives like the one recently
introduced in Brazil
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/9091bce5?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>,
where introducing taxation on ultra-processed food could bring substantial
health benefits.
------------------------------
In focus: Health in PalestineIn Palestine, healthcare is also a form of
resistance
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/dc0bb919?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

General practitioner Hanne Bosselaers sheds light on the importance of
health work in maintaining a sense of community and resistance in
Palestine, and solidarity actions that health workers can join
Israel has ripped the heart out of Gaza’s health system by destroying
Al-Shifa Hospital
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/e1d20f81?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

Through its latest vicious set of attacks against healthcare in Gaza,
Israel leaves no doubts that it is set to destroy all remaining health
infrastructure in the Strip
Executions, detentions, and sexual violence: Israel’s brutal siege on
Al-Shifa Hospital
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/9cd5b54d?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

People sheltering at Al-Shifa Hospital give accounts on even more violence
and humiliation as Israeli forces carry out some of the worst attacks yet
------------------------------
In focus5th People’s Health Assembly begins in Mar del Plata
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/9bffe108?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

Hundreds of health activists are gathering at the 5th People’s Health
Assembly to discuss strategies for health justice amid the crisis in
Argentina and the Israeli war on Gaza
------------------------------
Photo gallery: 5th People's Health Assembly

Source: People's Health Movement Global
------------------------------
Featured articlesIndia’s newly amended patent rules threaten affordable
medicines in the Global South
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/4af49ed8?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

New amendments to patent rules in India will jeopardize the country’s
ability to produce generics, dealing a strong blow to access to medicines
in both India and other countries of the Global South
Candidates in India’s election must prioritize health, suggest activists
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/386ad610?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

Health network Jan Swasthya Abhiyan recently launched the People’s Health
Manifesto, calling upon all parties running in India’s election to commit
to improve the quality and access to care in the country
WHO negotiations for Pandemic Treaty extended due to disagreements
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/bb492fbe?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

WHO members failed to agree on a final version of the new Pandemic Treaty
which is to be adopted at the upcoming World Health Assembly in May. Global
North countries are resisting calls for suspension of intellectual property
claims on essential products, including vaccines
The urgency of taxing ultra-processed foods in Brazil
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/268a79c7?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>

A new tax reform in Brazil foresees a tax to discourage the consumption of
ultra-processed foods, linked to 57,000 deaths a year — but the industry is
fighting back
------------------------------
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<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/a8b66fd1?m=7fbe802b-41b0-46c0-a257-5e71e0284f0a>
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<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/r/9796b572?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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