People's Health Dispatch

This fortnight  Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform plans caused mass protests all over France, with health workers and collectives joining the mobilizations. The reform would deepen existing health inequalities between workers in different sectors, as well as women and men in the workplace, warned the collectives. In New York City,

This fortnight  As a new year begins, nurses around the world are at the forefront of the struggle for the right to health. Tens of thousands of nurses in parts of the United Kingdom went on strike in December 2022. After years of being ignored by different administrations, seeing their

This fortnight  The world marked another Human Rights Day on January 10. Even on this day, thousands of people around of world saw their right to health denied and attacked. In some places, this happened because of rising inequalities and the impossibility to access essential necessities, including food. This was

This fortnight  Health workers around the world are intensifying action for better working conditions. After strikes in the primary health care system in Madrid and announcements of industrial action by nurses in Portugal, health workers in Scotland and Greece are looking to protect their workplaces in the public health system.

This fortnight  Primary health care is of particular importance for achieving Health for All. Yet, when it comes to implementing health policy and funding health systems, primary health care is regularly ignored. After years of cuts made to primary health care services in Madrid, health workers and community groups are

This fortnight   The World Health Organization, in its role as the United Nations’ health agency, formally stands in the lead for strengthening public health systems worldwide. Yet the role that international financial institutions play in the shaping of health systems has only grown with time. Today, the World Bank and

This fortnight  A growing number of communicable diseases outbreaks are adding to the worries of health workers and activists around the world. In Uganda, the recent Ebola outbreak led to new concerns about the country’s chronic health workers’ shortage and underfunded health system. Public health officials and local activists

This fortnight  Thousands of people around the world joined protests in support of safe abortion on September 28. In some countries, for example in Colombia, the mobilization took place after the women's movement secured progress in the field of sexual and reproductive health rights. Protesters in the United States, on

This fortnight Every September, Medics for the People is among the co-organizers of ManiFiesta, the fest of solidarity in Ostend, Belgium. This year they hosted discussions on the shortage of health workers, workers’ health, and public pharma production. We bring a report from ManiFiesta’s Health square. Activists from Palestine

This fortnight  Inequities in access to Covid-19 and monkeypox vaccines and medicines point to the benefits the whole world could reap from a research and development model independent of Big Pharma. The ongoing struggle for access to medicines builds upon decades of activism in every corner of the world. Health

This fortnight  Access to essential medicines remains a daunting problem for many as pharmaceutical companies from the Global North are allowed to drive the conversation, sidelining governments and patients' interests. Activists from the Delhi Network of Positive People have spent a full month protesting in front of the offices of

This fortnight   The World Health Organization declared the global monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 23 July. The reaction to the outbreak is drawing criticism as the presence of the orthopox virus caused little concern while it was limited to West and Central Africa, sparking a

This fortnight  Following the historic victory of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez in Colombia’s presidential election, health workers and patients are looking towards a major transformation of the health system. After decades of neoliberal policies that depleted working conditions and access to care, a new vision is coming in:

This fortnight  Violence against health workers and health infrastructure continues to add to the overall burden  in regions plagued by wars and armed conflict. The Israeli occupation of Palestine is one of the cases where the effects of this are easiest to see: in 2021, Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) injured

This fortnight  It took almost two full years for the World Trade Organization to adopt a decision on its role in the Covid-19 pandemic. Once it finally did, it was not the decision the world needed: the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO did not result in a TRIPS waiver

This fortnight  Country delegates are once again meeting in Geneva, this time for the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO). For almost two years, the WTO held the TRIPS waiver proposal on its agenda, but failed to secure any significant progress. Instead, under the pressure of the

This fortnight  The World Health Organization is holding its first in-person assembly since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) will last until 28 May, bringing discussions on non-communicable diseases, health emergencies, health workforce planning, and much more. We bring an overview of the WHA

This fortnight  On International Nurses’ Day 2022, an Israeli military tribunal sentenced Palestinian nurse and health activist Shatha Odeh to 16 months of prison and a $9000 USD fine, with a 5-years suspended sentence on condition that she does not engage in provision of health services. The sentence comes 10

This fortnight  As Sri Lanka continues to face an unprecedented social and economic crisis, the public health system on the island is brought to the brink of disaster. After weeks of food and medicine shortages and power reductions, the government recently turned to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank

This fortnight  A general rollback of policies introduced to provide support and security for people during the pandemic is well underway. In South Africa, health workers employed during Covid-19 are predominately not seeing their contracts renewed. The austerity-based pandemic recovery that the government has in sight has already led to

This week  On 7 April we mark World Health Day, also referred to by health activists as People’s Health Day. The day marks the anniversary of the formation of the World Health Organization in 1948. Yet, as the People’s Health Movement’s Co-Chairs Fran Baum and Sulakshana Nandi

This fortnight  War and violence are among the most painful determinants shaping people’s health. Armed conflicts devastate both communities and human dignity. The worst consequences are suffered by those who have the least say when it comes to taking decisions about wars – women, children and other marginalized communities. This

This fortnight  News of a tentative TRIPS waiver compromise allegedly penned by a group of four countries - the US, the EU, South Africa and India - was published just around the time when the world was entering the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic. The text was hailed by

This fortnightAs we prepare for 8 March, International Women’s Day, women’s health around the world remains undermined by conservative policies in sexual and reproductive health and austerity measures alike. Trade unions and health movements in France have launched an international call to women health workers asking them to

This fortnight  Protests and strikes by health workers all over the world have marked the first couple of months of 2022. Reacting to long-standing issues in the health system and rampant inflation, health workers in Turkey continue to persevere in their struggle for fair working conditions in spite of being