Bulletin #78: Starvation looms over Gaza; commercialization threatens health in Brazil

This fortnight  

Healthcare services in the Gaza Strip have nearly collapsed, with care being provided by the sheer determination of nurses, paramedics, doctors, and other health workers. Hunger rates are escalating, and the risk of disease outbreaks looms due to debris and overflowing sewage infrastructure.

A ceasefire is essential for healthcare services in Palestine to fully restart and rebuild. Health workers in Palestine and worldwide are calling for an end to the violence. Recently, Healthcare Workers for Palestine in the US protested in Chicago, demanding the American Medical Association support a ceasefire and recognize the violence in Gaza as genocide.

Healthcare in Palestine and other countries ridden by imperialist violence and conflict remains one of the priorities of the People’s Health Movement (PHM). After the People’s Health Assembly in Mar del Plata, Argentina, PHM is now implementing its call to action, aiming to build a new international economic order based on peace, solidarity, and respect.

In Brazil, health is threatened by climate change and private sector encroachments. Recent floods in Rio Grande do Sul have literally submerged primary healthcare services. At the same time, pressures to privatize blood product production could throw Brazil back to the 1970s, when insufficient safety measures led to contaminated blood transfusions. Additionally, a new bill that would equate abortion with murder has sparked protests.

Nepal’s Community Health Workers have joined a trade union delegation to the annual International Labor Organization meeting, continuing their struggle for job stability and fair wages. By campaigning for their recognition, they are also advocating for stronger public health systems that benefit all.

In focus: Health workers in US against genocide

Healthcare workers protest AMA’s silence on genocide in Gaza

Healthcare Workers for Palestine activists protested at a recent American Medical Association meeting, condemning the association’s silence on the genocide in Palestine

Healthcare workers will protest the American Medical Association’s silence in the face of genocide

On June 8, healthcare workers are staging a demonstration outside of a meeting of the American Medical Association House of Delegates

In focus: Health in Palestine

Starvation and healthcare collapse loom over Gaza

Starvation in Gaza, exacerbated by Israeli armed forces’ violence, is killing children

Healthcare in the West Bank under siege as Gaza nears starvation

Half of Gaza’s population may face starvation within a month, while healthcare in the West Bank is becoming increasingly inaccessible due to obstructions by Israeli forces

Featured articles

Global People’s Health Movement calls for a new international economic, political, and social order

At a recent global gathering, hundreds of health activists committed to uniting the health movement with other progressive social movements. Their aim is to form a broad coalition for radical change to counter the crises of capitalism and imperialism

Nepal’s community health workers advance in struggle for job security and recognition

Representatives of Nepal’s Female Community Health Volunteers joined trade union delegations at the annual ILO meeting to advocate for job security and recognition

Feminists in Brazil mobilize against bill that equates abortion with murder

The Chamber of Deputies surprised many by pushing forward the discussion on a bill that equates abortion with murder and prohibits abortion even in cases of rape

Healthcare runs underwater in Rio Grande do Sul

The director of the Municipal Health Foundation in São Leopoldo, one of the cities hardest hit by the floods, provides an account of the current situation from the perspective of healthcare workers

The dangers of blood as a commodity

A recent inquiry revealed that commercial blood transfusions infected 33,000 Britons with HIV and Hepatitis C, a risk that Brazil overcame with the Henfil Law and Hemobrás – risks which may return with the proposed Plasma PEC

Photo gallery: What does the Child Pregnancy Bill in Brazil propose?

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Swedish nurses strike to win better healthcare for all

In a historic move, PSI affiliate the Swedish Association of Health Care Professionals, Vårdförbundet, has led a strike, the first in over 15 years. Their aim? To combat the deteriorating conditions in the healthcare sector and to advocate for a better system for everyone.

Public Services International The global union federation of workers in public servicesLeo Hyde

Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh miss out on hepatitis C cure | MSF

With a high prevalence of hepatitis C among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, MSF is calling for action to scale up badly-needed diagnosis and treatment.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) InternationalPress Release12 June 2024

‘Gives Us What We’re Owed’: Why Healthcare Assistants Are on Strike

Healthcare assistants are the very backbone of the NHS. Forced to work above their pay grades for poverty wages, they’re going on strike for the pay — and the recognition — they deserve.

Ella Glover

The Palestinian health system targetted by Israel, but crucial part of the resistance against genocide | People’s Health Movement

Home

How Israel’s war has created a neonatal nightmare in Gaza

Pregnant women in Gaza live in terror for their unborn children, as preterm births and miscarriages skyrocket, one more aspect of Israel’s genocidal onslaught.

The new ArabThe New Arab (From the Arabic Edition)