wfn.org | World Health Assembly: economic programmes sometimes prevent Health for All

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Update 03-25
For Immediate Use
22 May 2003

World Health Assembly: economic programmes sometimes prevent 'Health for All'

Cf. Press Release PR-03-19 of 20 May 2003

Some recent economic programmes have endangered people's health, especially
the health of poor people, and are one of the most significant barriers to
'Health For All'. This is what civil society speakers said at a symposium
organized on 20 May 2003 - the second day of the 56th World Health Assembly
in Geneva. 

The symposium was jointly organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC)
and the "NGO Forum for Health". The WCC and other NGOs facilitated civil
society participation in the Assembly by bringing members of the world-wide
Peoples Health Movement to Geneva to share their grassroots experiences and
insights on the goal of 'Health For All' and primary health care (PHC) with
governments. Among the economic programmes identified as dangerous for
people's health, symposium speakers mentioned bilateral free trade agreements
in Latin America, and the World Trade Organization's TRIPS (trade-related
aspects of intellectual property rights) agreements. 

25 years ago, an international conference at Alma Ata, USSR, said that the
way to achieve 'Health for all' was through primary health care. The Alma Ata
Declaration then became the cornerstone of WHO's and of many governments'
health care policies.

In a 20 May Assembly discussion of the Alma Ata anniversary, several states
reiterated their commitment to the ideals of 'Health for All' and PHC, and
moved to further strengthen Assembly resolutions in this respect. The WCC and
the Peoples Health Movement were also invited by WHO to address the topic in
plenary. "It is encouraging to see WHO's and member states' openness to the
voices from the grassroots on an issue that is of vital importance to the
poor and the marginalized," says Dr Manoj Kurian of the WCC's Mission &
Ecumenical Formation team.

Voices from civil society
Later in the day, presentations by practitioners of primary health care in
different parts of the world at the well-attended symposium co-organized by
the WCC and the "NGO Forum for Health" brought the issues into stark relief.

Speakers from Nicaragua, Kenya, India, Philippines, Bangladesh, Iran, Moldova
and the Democratic Republic of Congo described the health situation in their
countries, and unanimously reiterated their commitment to the vision and
vital importance of community participation in health care. 

They reported that preoccupation with health care methods often leads to
losing sight of goals. By endangering people's health, some recent economic
programmes constitute important barriers to 'Health for All'. And trends
towards vertical, disease-specific programmes are damaging the functioning of
public health systems in developing countries, they stressed. 

These civil society voices expressed a shared conviction that the vision of
Alma Ata is as relevant today as it ever was, but that international events
like war and trade need to be factored into the analysis. Yet overall, there
is adequate evidence that primary health care brings significant improvements
in the health status of individuals and communities, the PHC practitioners
said. 

The following members of the WCC delegation to the World Health Assembly are
available for interviews:

Natalia CEBOTARENCO, director, DrugInfo Moldova, board member, Ecumenical
Pharmaceutical Network (Moldova)
Gabi HETLER, coordinator, German Institute for Medical Mission (DIFAM) 
Manoj KURIAN, programme executive for Health, Healing and Wholeness, WCC
Mission & Ecumenical Formation team
Samuel MWENDA, director, Health Association of Kenya 
Patricia NICKSON, dean, Panafrican Institute for Community Health (Dem. Rep.
Congo)
Eva OMBAKA, director, WCC Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (Tanzania)
J.C.OMMEN, head, Community Health Department, Christian Hospital,  Orissa,
(India)
Eric RAM, former director, World Vision and former director, WCC/CMC
(Switzerland)
David SANDERS, professor of Community Health, University of Western Cape
(South Africa)
Jose UTRERA, coordinator, Dutch Working Group on Health and Development
Issues (WEMOS) (Netherlands)

For further information, please contact the Media Relations Office, tel: +41
(0)22 791 64 21 / 61 53

**********

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which
meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in
1948 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary
Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

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