---------------------- Forwarded by Dennis Raphael/Atkinson on 05/18/2002 07:11
PM ---------------------------
martin Gittelman <[log in to unmask]> on 05/18/2002 05:03:44 AM
To: Nancy Krieger Spirit of 1848
<[log in to unmask]>
cc: (bcc: Dennis Raphael/Atkinson)
Subject [spiritof1848] <no subject>
:
People
šs Charter for Health
INTRODUCTION
In 1978, at the Alma-Ata Conference, ministers from 134 members countries in
association with WHO and UNICEF declared "Health for All by the Year 2000"
selecting Primary Health Care as the best tool to achieve it.
Unfortunately, that dream never came true. The health status of Third world
populations has not improved. In many cases it has deteriorated further.
Currently we are facing a global health crisis, characterised by growing
inequalities within and between countries. New threats to health are
continually emerging. This is compounded by negative forces of globalisation
which prevent the equitable distribution of resources with regard to the
health of people and especially that of the poor.
Within the health sector, failure to implement the principles of primary
health care, as originally conceived in Alma-Ata, has significantly
aggravated the global health crisis. Governments and the international
bodies are fully responsible for this failure.
It has now become essential to build up a concerted international effort to
put the goals of Health for All to its rightful place on the development
agenda. Genuine, people-centred initiatives must therefore be strengthened
in order to increase pressure on decision-makers, governments and the
private sector to ensure that the vision of Alma-Ata becomes a reality.
Several international organisations and civil society movements, NGOs and
womenšs groups decided to work together towards this objective. This group
together with others committed to the principles of primary health care and
peoplešs perspectives organised the "Peoplešs Health Assembly" which took
place from 4-8 December 2000 in Bangladesh, at Savar, on the campus of the
Gonoshasthaya Kendra or GK (Peoplešs Health Centre).
1453 participants from 92 countries came to the Assembly which was the
culmination of eighteen months of preparatory action around the globe. The
preparatory process elicited unprecedented enthusiasm and participation of a
broad cross section of people who have been involved in thousands of village
meetings, district level workshops and national gatherings.
The Plenary Sessions at the Assembly covered five main themes: Health, Life
and Well-Being; Inequality, Poverty and Health; Health Care and Health
Services; Environment and Survival; and The Ways Forward. People from all
over the world presented testimonies of deprivation and service failure as
well as those of successful peoplešs initiatives and organisation. Over a
hundred concurrent sessions made it possible for participants to share and
discuss in greater detail different aspects of the major themes and give
voice to their specific experiences and concerns. The five days event gave
participants the space to express themselves in their own idiom. They put
forward the failures of their respective governments and international
organisations and decided to fight together so that health and equitable
development become top priorities in the policy makers agendas at the local,
national and international levels.
Having reviewed their problems and difficulties and shared their
experiences, they have formulated and finally endorsed the Peoplešs Charter
for Health. The Charter from now on will be the common tool of a worldwide
citizenšs movement committed to make the Alma-Ata dream a reality. We
encourage and invite everyone who shares our concerns and aims to join us by
endorsing the Charter.
Peoplešs Charter for Health
I approve the text of the Charter
sI wish to Support the Movement
I wish to actively participate in the Movement
(You can tick all the three)
Name: __________________________________________________________
Organisation: _____________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Tel: _______________________ Fax: _________________________________
E-mail: ____________________________________________________________
Date: _______________________
Signature: __________________________
Please return to : Dr.Qasem Chowdhury
Coordinator
PHA Secretariat
Gonoshasthaya Kendra
P.O. Mirzanagar via Savar Cantonment,
Dhaka 1344, Bangladesh
Email: [log in to unmask]
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