Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #120251

Clyde Lanny Smith, MD, MPH, DTM&H, Peoples Health Movement, Montefiore Primary Care/Social Med, AECOM& PHM, PO Box 672444, Bronx, NY 10467, 718-944-6988, lannysmith@post.harvard.edu

The People's Health Movement (PHM) is a coalition of organizations dedicated to challenging the prevailing system of health care delivery that is failing to serve most of the poor worldwide.

In 1978, at the Alma-Ata Conference, ministers from 134 countries in association with the WHO/UNICEF pledged to achieve 'Health for All by the Year 2000' and dedicated themselves to implement Primary Health Care as the means.

Unfortunately, the people's health status has in many cases deteriorated. Twenty-seven years after Alma-Ata, we face a global health crisis characterized by growing inequalities within and between countries. As people's living standards decline, new threats to health emerge and old threats reassert themselves. Forces of corporate-led globalization prevent a more equitable distribution of resources, a necessary condition for the improvement of people's health.

Within the health sector, failure to implement primary health care has significantly aggravated the global and local health crisis. We need a concerted intentional effort to make "Health for All" a top priority on the development agenda. We must oppose the corporate vision of "Health for all who can pay." We must exert pressure on decision-makers, governments and the private sector through the development and support of genuine people-centered initiatives.

In December 2000, delegates from organizations worldwide founded the People's Health Movement and drafted the People's Health Charter (www.phmovement.org) in Savar, Bangladesh to work towards achieving Health for All. The Second People's Health Assembly, from 18-24 July 2005 in Cuenca, Ecuador, builds on this foundation. Find how you can invite the PHM to be part of your and your organization's work toward social justice.

Learning Objectives:

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Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation