Global Mobilising Civil Society around Health an Alternative World Health
Report Watch
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GHW Update 10 - June 2005
Welcome to our June edition!!!
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interested in the GHW.
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Cover and Commendations of the GHW from Leading Public
Health Figures
We have just received very complementary commendations from
a number of notable people. Read for yourself.
Ilona Kickbush, senior health policy advisor: The global
health arena needs more transparency, more accountability
and more political analysis. This new initiative clearly
contributes in a significant way to all three of these
challenges. It will become required reading for anyone
active in global health.
Andy Haines, Director, London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine: This report combines academic analysis with a call
to mobilize the health professional community to advocate
for improvements in global health and justice. I hope it
will be read by many health professionals in rich and poor
countries alike.
Martin Khor, Third World Network: It is very good to see the
issues of trade and globalisation reflected prominently in a
report on the state of health. The biggest health epidemic
facing the planet today is poverty - it underlies the
existing and unacceptable pattern of disease burden and the
inadequate health systems response. This report provides a
resource for enabling health professionals to engage in
debates about these determinants.
Fran Baum, Commissioner on the WHO Commission on the Social
Determinants of Health: The Watch will become the essential
guidebook for health activists who want to campaign for a
kinder, more equitable, healthier and people centred world.
I will certainly be reading it avidly to help me in my role
as a Commissioner on the WHO Commission on the Social
Determinants of Health.
Vicente Navarro, Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of
Health Services: This is a very good reference for people
working in areas affecting the health of populations. It
deals with some of the most important issues in today's
world. I highly recommend it.
Help us spread the world about the GHW and hold a launch in
your city! For more information on what this involves please
contact us at [log in to unmask]
An advocacy document highlighting the key messages from the
Watch will be posted on the GHW website on the 20th of July.
It will be available in Arabic, French, German and
Spanish. If you can help translate this document into other
languages please contact us at [log in to unmask]
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GHW features at the World Health Assembly
At the 58th World Health Assembly in Geneva, health
ministers from 192 countries discussed key global issues.
David McCoy of the GHW secretariat was asked to speak at a
high level panel to discuss the World Health Organisation's
11th Global Program of Work (GPW). The GPW is a 10 year
framework for action for the world as well as a WHO planning
document.
David's response covered many of the issues that the Global
Health Watch discusses and he was also able to plug the
Watch itself. Here is an excerpt of his response:
"..the dominant development paradigm is one which focuses on
the delivery of medical technologies and pre-determined
packages of interventions without considering adequately the
process of health development, and without considering how
health interventions can simultaneously change the political
and social landscape in which are constituted the
fundamental social and economic determinants of health.
In spite of being explicitly pro-poor or centred on poverty
reduction there are current issues affecting the work of
many existing health interventions and programmes. These
include:
a.. Reinforcement of dependency and disempowerment;
b.. Too much publicity and credence given to institutions
and actors that do not share a commitment to equity or
healthy for all- actors and institutions that may actually
be part of the problem but which are positioning and
portraying themselves as being part of the solution;
c.. Undermining of government and undermining of mandates
and capacity of the public sector within heal care systems.
So, first point, the GPW must give attention to the process
of health development, so that it incorporates and advocates
health interventions that will also shift the imbalances in
decision-making power; increase the transparency and
accountability of governments, global initiatives and
public-private partnerships; and shape global initiatives to
fit in with the needs of health care systems, rather than
shaping health care systems to fit in with the needs of
global initiatives. We must not have the tail wagging the dog.
Second point, the GPW should discuss and respond to the
environment within which WHO operates. This means:
· Looking at global governance and the effectiveness of the
UN system as a whole;
· Strengthening the ability of WHO to influence the form and
rules of globalisation so as to be able to promote and
protect public health
· Improving the funding environment of WHO, and reducing the
ability of donors to unduly control the WHO agenda through
extra-budgetary support
· Limiting the undue influence of certain countries on the
actions of WHO - for example, looking to see how the WHO can
be protected from pressure to stop considering
macro-economic and trade policies as being health issues
· Bring some sense of coordination and coherence to the
proliferation of global initiatives and partnerships.
Finally, the third point: we would like to see the GPW also
reflect and comment on the internal environment of WHO. In
two months, we and others, will be launching the production
of an alternative world health report. One of the ideas
behind this is to develop a mechanism for "writing a report
on the people who normally write the reports". In other
words, to find a mechanism by which we can scrutinise the
work and actions of key global health institutions such as
WHO (but not limited to WHO).
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Highlights from the GHW Report 2005- UNICEF
The survival gap between rich and poor children around the
world is increasing, though the causes of mortality in 42
countries could be prevented 60% of the time.
UNICEF which formed after World War II in an effort to
relieve Europe's children from disease and famine has since
extended its mission to include: girl's education,
immunisation, HIV/AIDS, early childhood development and
child protection.
Over the leadership of different UNICEF's executive
directors there has been gradual shifts from focus being
placed on reducing child mortality rates to the current
broader more developmental children's issue, among which are
violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination.
Because UNICEF was formed to address an array of children's
issue, many are outraged by the recently appointed UNICEF
executive director, Ann Veneman, who they feel will not
address adequately UNICEF's concerns for children's well
being. Overall what people are looking for in an executive
director is a person that is a friend to children above
other things.
Though at the centre of UNICEF is the well being of
children, the chapter proposes that UNICEF alongside other
organisations like the UN and WHO need to jointly tackle
children's issue to maximise efficiency by supporting each
other's missions rather than working parallel to them.
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