A resolution to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered in Geneva for the World Health Assembly. Based on decades of research, the resolution says that mother’s milk is healthiest for children and countries should strive to limit the inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes. The United States delegation was however reported to have embraced the interests of infant formula manufacturers and to have upended the deliberations. Health advocates scrambled to find another sponsor for the resolution, but at least a dozen countries, most of them poor nations in Africa and Latin America, backed off, citing fears of retaliation, according to officials from Uruguay, Mexico and the United States. In the end, the Russian delegation stepped in to introduce the measure — and the Americans did not oppose.
Values, Policies and Rights
This paper examines parental control and monitoring and the implications of this on young people's sexual decision making in a rural setting in North-Western Tanzania. Data collection involved 17 focus group discussions and 46 in-depth interviews conducted with young people aged 14-24 years and parents/carers of young people within this age-group. The researchers found that parents were motivated to control and monitor their children's behaviour for reasons such as social respectability and protecting them from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Children from single-parent families reported that they received less control and researchers noted that a father's presence in the family seemed important in controlling the activities of young people, while a mother's did not appear to. Girls received more supervision compared to boys. Despite parents making efforts to control and monitor their young people's sexual behaviour, the researchers conclude that parents are faced with major challenges, such as too little time available to spend with their children, which make it difficult for them to monitor them effectively. The researchers argue that there is a need for interventions, such as parenting skills-building, that might enable parents to improve their relationships with their children and help guide their sexual behaviour.
This statement was made by parliamentarians who attended the Women Deliver Conference, which was held from 7–9 June in Washington, DC, United States. The statement addresses a number of areas: creating laws and policies with and for women and girls; giving women and girls their fair share of funding (budget and oversight responsibilities); advocating for a women’s and girl’s agenda everywhere by advancing Millennium Development Goal 5 locally, nationally, regionally and globally; and raising awareness and building knowledge on women’s and girls’ issues. The Parliamentarians pledge to carry out these actions and to systematically and actively monitor their progress. They commit to communicate the results achieved in working with their respective authorities and work in close co-operation with civil society and other key stakeholders to support national action plans to be presented during the United Nations High Level Review meeting on the Millennium Development Goals.
In an open letter to the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Colombia, the Peoples' Health Movement urged the government to abide by the Constitution, stop the violence, and join hands with citizens in defeating COVID urgently, and enacting policies that promote people’s health, equality and social justice. The PHM wrote: "We note with deep concern the criminalisation of protest and high levels of violence perpetrated on legitimate and peaceful protestors by the Colombian government security forces and armed civilian groupings. Credible sources report the use of lethal weapons, including rifles and semi-automatic guns, against protesters around the country by police. At least 37 people have been killed; some reports give larger numbers. There are also reports of disappearances. As a result of extreme militarisation, some cities, including Cali and Palmira, are running out of food and medicine supplies; Internet signals and social networks essential for communication among citizens and communities have been blocked; and levels of fear and uncertainty are growing among the population. The protests occur against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID is exacerbating poverty and inequality. The number of Colombian people living in extreme poverty grew by 2.8 million last year. And more and more people face hunger.
In 1978, at the Alma‐Ata Conference, ministers from 134 member 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, the health status of third-world populations has not improved, according to the People’s Health Movement (PHM). In this Charter, PHM lays five health principles that may be applied globally. First, the attainment of the highest possible level of health and well‐being is a fundamental human right, regardless of a person's colour, ethnic background, religion, gender, age, abilities, sexual orientation or class. Second, the principles of universal, comprehensive Primary Health Care (PHC), envisioned in the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration, should be the basis for formulating policies related to health. Now more than ever an equitable, participatory and intersectoral approach to health and health care is needed. Third, Governments have a fundamental responsibility to ensure universal access to quality health care, education and other social services according to people’s needs, not according to their ability to pay. Fourth, the participation of people and people's organisations is essential to the formulation, implementation and evaluation of all health and social policies and programmes. Finally, health is primarily determined by the political, economic, social and physical environment and should, along with equity and sustainable development, be a top priority in local, national and international policy‐making.
PHM is embarking upon a global Right to Health and Healthcare campaign which involves coordinated national and international level action. The overall idea of the campaign is to change the international approach to health and development, and, via a ‘Global Action Plan on the Right to Health Care,’ convincingly show how quality essential health care services could be made available NOW to every human being on earth.
The People’s Health Movement ((PHM) has significantly advanced in the campaign's expansion since its last update in May 2008. India, Ecuador, Zimbabwe and South Africa are involved in the campaign without receiving funding. New PHM circles have been formed in the last three months in Mali, Kenya, Morocco and Uganda and they will be submitting campaign proposals shortly. The countries that have almost completed the assessment are now eligible for a small additional funding to hold a national workshop in which to present the results to the government, UN agencies, international and national NGOs and the media. Any country not mentioned here is welcome to inquire with PHM how they can get a PHM circle going so as to launch the campaign.
A 3D Policy Brief has been released on "Intellectual Property, Development and Human Rights: How Human Rights Can Support Proposals for a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Development Agenda." It encourages advocates, policy-makers and WIPO Member States to elaborate an actionable, pro-development WIPO intellectual property agenda consistent with States' development commitments and human rights obligations. The Policy Brief is available in English, French and Spanish.
Indoor residual spraying (IRS) and insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), two principal malaria control strategies, are similar in cost and efficacy. This study aimed to describe recent policy development regarding their use in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Using a qualitative case study methodology, semi-structured interviews of key informants were undertaken from May 2004 to March 2005, and a document review was carried out. Most respondents in the study strongly favoured one strategy over the other – IRS versus ITNs. In all three countries, national policy makers favoured IRS, and only in Mozambique did national researchers support ITNs. Outside interests also played a significant role in influencing policy. Research evidence, local conditions, logistic feasibility, past experience, reaction to outside ideas, community acceptability, the role of government and non-governmental organisations, and harm from insecticides used in spraying influenced the choice of strategy. In conclusion, it may be time for policy makers to consider changing from their favoured IRS strategy, while those intending to promote new policies such as ITNs should examine the interests and ideas motivating key stakeholders and their own institutions, and identify where shifts in thinking or coalitions among the like-minded may be possible.
This paper discusses a number of important policy frameworks for addressing health and environmental challenges, such as the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (also known as the Earth Summit), the Millennium Development Goals (Goals 4, 5 and 6), the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)’s Human Resources Development Initiative, which urges the integration of health and environment policies. In many African countries, national health-sector policies have been developed separate from those on environment. Planning and service delivery also takes place without deliberate integration. For more effective responses to the health and environment challenges facing the continent, this paper urges governments in Africa to mainstream health and environment into national development agendas, and develop the human capacity for assessment, regular monitoring and evaluation of the process.