In
1978 the governments of the world came together to sign the Alma
Ata Declaration that promised "Health for All by 2000".
However this
promise was never taken very seriously and was subsequently
marginalized in health policy discussions.
As
the year 2000 approached it appeared that "Health for All by
2000"
was quietly being forgotten by governments around the world. To remind
people of this forgotten commitment the First People's Health
Assembly was organized in Savar, Bangladesh in December 2000 . The People's
Health Assembly was a coming together of people's movements and other
non-government civil society organizations all over the world to reiterate
the pledge for Health for All and to make governments take this promise
seriously. The
assembly also aimed to build global solidarity, and to bring together
people’s movements and organizations working to advance the people’s
health in the context of policies of globalization.
From 4-8 December 2000, 1453 participants from 75
countries met on the campus of Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK - People's Health
Centre), Savar, Bangladesh. The 5 day meet led to sharing of
experiences from across the globe. The representatives discussed the adverse
impact of the structural adjustment programmes on people's health and the
role of the World Bank, IMF and WTO in pushing these policies. The
assembly in a single voice condemned these institutions and governments
which are willingly pursuing these anti-people policies. The multi-national
corporations who use their money-power to push for policies which put
profits before people and the proponents of liberalisation who recommend
that governments should cut expenditure on social sector like health and
education also came in for criticism
The People's
Charter for Health was the consensus document of the Assembly. It is a statement of the shared
vision, goals, principles and calls for action that unite all the members of
the PHM coalition
Coordinating Group
The civil society organisations involved in coordinating the PHA process
include:
pdf
version
