We thought that some of you may be interested in our experiences so far at the Sixth Global Conference on Health Promotion in Bangkok. 

You can read some of the conference documents at http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/6gchp/en/index.html

We are deeply appreciative of the many powerful and exciting papers and presentations, the opportunities to meet with others, and the hospitality and thoughtfulness of the Thai Ministry of Public Health.

Version 7 of the Bangkok Charter is to be available tomorrow morning and is to be finalized by the writing group tomorrow night.

Today is the UN Day for Indigenous Peoples. In a plenary discussion this afternoon, Associate-Professor Mihi Ratima (who is here as an invited speaker) quoted today’s speakers who had said that addressing inequalities is a profound political issue based on human rights.  

Associate-Professor Ratima said “For indigenous peoples addressing inequalities is more than a question of health, it is about our very survival as indigenous peoples.  In this global health promotion forum we are able to recognize that the price for globalisation has often been paid by indigenous peoples.”

She pointed out that “The Bangkok Charter brings an opportunity to incorporate a rights-based approach which explicitly in the text for action includes the rights of indigenous peoples and the reduction of inequalities between peoples, and to ensure that public health tools such as health impact assessment are based on equity.”

Last night three indigenous public health leaders in New Zealand (Kathrine Clarke who is here at the nomination of IUHPE, Braden Leonard who is one of the new generation of public health workers, and Assoc Professor Ratima) together with Gay Keating (who is here for the World Federation of Public Health Associations) and I discussed what we had been hearing from the speakers and participants.  We identified six key messages from participants’ discussions on Sunday and Monday.

A message to everyone
* Use a rights-based approach, including the rights of indigenous peoples and the reduction of inequalities between peoples, to ensure that the benefits of globalisation are shared fairly.

Messages to WHO
* We strongly support WHO placing very high importance on the determinants of health and reducing inequalities within and between countries.
* We strongly encourage the development of global approaches to a wide range of international governance instruments, ranging from voluntary codes through to national and international law, to address harmful effects of globalisation.
* We strongly support WHO working for the full implementation of rights and environmental treaties,  Millenium Development Goals, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and other instruments in collaboration with other UN agencies, governments, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs.

Messages to the health promotion workforce
* We need to advocate for full implementation of international rights and environmental treaties, Millenium Development Goals, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and other international agreements that improve health.
* We need to work in global settings and alliances to address the harmful effects of globalisation.


Today Dr Keating and others talked about what they were hearing from speakers and participants about partnerships with the private sector. These were the key messages from participants that they identified.

Messages to corporate organizations
* We want to work with you concerning:
- Investment in the health and safety of employees, and in health promotion with employees, their families and communities.
- Corporate social responsibility.
- Collaboration with public sector health care providers to enhance acces to basic, good quality and affordable health services.

Messages to the health promotion workforce
We need to:
- Work with corporates to foster alliances that enhance health.
- Advocate for health governance that effectively controls corporates whose production processes products or marketing strategies harm health.
- Form transparent, accountable alliances only with corporates whose production processes, products and marketing strategies do not undermine health, to enable the promotion of health.
- Form alliances with philanthropic foundations and donors to promote health.


We wrote these messages down and shared them with many of the participants in the hope that they may be of use in the development of a Charter that we can all use to improve health and reduce inequalities between peoples in the context of a globalising world. We look forward to the new draft tomorrow.

We are also looking forward to the opportunities tomorrow to learn from the extensive Thai experience and expertise in health promotion.


Alison Blaiklock
Executive Director
Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand
Runanga Whakapiki ake i te Hauora o Aotearoa
www.hpforum.org.nz

9 August 2005



 


> 
> From: Alison Stirling <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 2005/08/09 Tue AM 09:43:29 GMT+12:00
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: The 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion Aug 7-11/05
> 
> Over the past two months we have had a series of messages posted on this
> list about the 'Bangkok Charter on Health Promotion', to be developed at
> the World Health Organization's 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion.
> That conference is now taking place in Bangkok Thailand.
> 
> Check out the WHO website for the conference at:
> http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/6gchp/en/index.html
> 
> "Policy and Partnership for Action: Addressing the Determinants of
> Health", Bangkok, Thailand, 7-11 August 2005
> 
> [from the website]
> This conference is the latest in the series which began in Ottawa in 1986
> and produced the Ottawa Charter on Health Promotion. This benchmark
> conference was followed by Adelaide (1988), Sundsvall (1991), Jakarta
> (1997) and Mexico-City (2000).
> 
> Almost 20 years later, many things have changed in the world, including
> the impact of globalization, the internet, greater moves towards private
> sector involvement in public health, emphasis on a sound evidence-based
> approach and cost-effectiveness. The 6th Global Conference has been
> convened to meet these challenges and to better exploit the opportunities
> presented for health promotion in the 21st Century.
> 
> *************************
> 
> The much debated 'Bangkok Charter' for Health Promotion can be seen in its
> latest version, as of July 29th at the following page:
> http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/6gchp/bangkok_charter_comments/en/index.html
> The draft charter is in PDF [98kb]
> 
> If you are interested in reviewing the discussion on this document that
> occurred over the past few months, check out the following links:
> 
> Reviews of Health Promotion & Education Online (RHPEO) carried a series of
> dialogues in english, french and spanish from health promtoion researchers
> and practitioners from around the world. See the special series addressing
> the various issues regarding the Ottawa  and Bangkok Charters and titled "
> Ottawa 1986-Vancouver 2007 : should the Ottawa Charter be revisited ? at
> http://www.rhpeo.org
> 
> Here on CLICK4HP in the archives (http://www.click4hp.ca), see the following:
> The People's Health Movement response to the Bangkok Charter Aug. 3, 2005
> https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0508&L=click4hp&T=0&F=&S=&P=401
> 
> Bangkok Charter Synthesis by G. Laverack, July 25, 2005
> https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0507&L=click4hp&T=0&F=&S=&P=4556
> 
> Proposed Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion, Bernie Marshall June 23, 2005
> https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0506&L=click4hp&T=0&F=&S=&P=5232
> 
> Bangkok Charter +++ by G. Laverack, R. Phipps, June 20, 2005
> https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0506&L=click4hp&T=0&F=&S=&P=3719
> 
> FWD: More on the Bangkok Charter [from SDOH list], June 18, 2005
> https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0506&L=click4hp&T=0&F=&S=&P=3386
> 
> RHPEO series on Ottawa & Bangkok Charter, by Michel O'Neill, June 13, 2005
> https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0506&L=click4hp&T=0&O=D&P=2570
> 
> If the links are too long and break, please check the archive by month and
> date or author to get these postings.
> 
> There are also a series of postings about this topic and related issues on
> the Social Detrminants of Health listserv archive.
> You may be able to view that archive by going to:
> http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/sdoh.html
> 
> ---------------------------
> 
> Your comments and coontributions to this discussion would be very welcome!
> 
> Alison Stirling, cofacilitator CLICK4HP
> 
> Send the following text: unsubscribe click4hp to: [log in to unmask] if you wish to unsubscribe. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/click4hp.html to view CLICK4HP archives or manage your subscription (you will have to create a password).
> 

Send the following text: unsubscribe click4hp to: [log in to unmask] if you wish to unsubscribe. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/click4hp.html to view CLICK4HP archives or manage your subscription (you will have to create a password).