Oral

A position paper or policy resolution to be presented to the WFPHA in May 2011 has the working title: Social justice, public health leadership and the socially marginalized. The paper will define what public health leadership means in this regard, the population groups at the margins of society whose health improvement will be the aim of the initiative and why those in prisons could be selected as a first priority because of the, disproportionate number of prisoners with serious public health problems such as HIV,, TB, mental ill health and addictions. In addition, prisons throughout the world hold a high proportion of people from the most disadvantaged social and educational backgrounds, who are migrants in that country and who are from an ethnic minority or from native sections of the population. The paper will attempt to justify the claim that a global effort concentrating on these socially marginalized population groups is timely and is in the real interests of social justice, human rights and national and global public health . The paper may recommend that the WFPHA leads a new global initiative to build capacity in public health leadership in its Member Associations so as to lead to improvements in the health of the target groups. This ambitious proposal will need a strengthening of the central office at WFPHA as well as collaboration with the WHO so as to use experience, expertise and training aids already available in WHO offices; it can succeed only with the additional support of all those public health associations already involved in related initiatives. These sessions have been allocated to assist the development of the proposal and to help clarify the concepts underlying it and the possible actions which could achieve its aims. The first session aims to define the issues and to indicate what could be done. The second session aims to hear from various Public Health Associations on their strengths and priorities.

Session Objectives: 1. To discuss the role of public health leaders in tackling issues of social justice 2. To understand better why prison health development can contribute to general public health, to reducing health inequalities and to a more just health service for marginalised people 3. To be clear about the role of civil society in both national and global health affairs.