Follow-Up Action

Everyone agrees that the real success of the People's Health Assembly will depend on action and activities the participating individuals and groups manage to undertake after the Assembly. What small but significant steps will we take that effectively contribute to building a fairer, healthier world--or at least a corner of it?

Potentially, one of the most positive outcomes of the PHA is the People's Charter for Health. It can provide a platform on which people can organize and lobby for change. But unfortunately, within the Assembly, the recommendations for mechanisms and actions to do this have not yet been clearly worked out.

Perhaps this is as it should be. Circumstances in different countries and communities differ widely. Approaches to problem solving must be adapted accordingly.

Nevertheless, in unity lies strength. For the People's Health Assembly to move forward toward transforming unfair and unhealthy social structures, especially at the global level, the solidarity that emerged at the PHA in Bangladesh must be sustained and reinforced. There needs to be continued active communication among participants, and a mechanism whereby groups in different parts of the world can be supportive of one another in times of crises.

It is critical to maintain adequate channels for information sharing. The PHA web site on the Internet is a good start. To optimize it, however, we need a team of responsible people to mantain up-to-date information and to coordinate input from the various NGOs, health movements, and activists involved. At the same time a strong effort is needed to link up and communicate with similar coalitions in other sectors, including the environmental sector and alternative (people centered) economics.

It must be remembered, however, that only 5 percent of the world population has access to computers and the internet. If the PHA is to reach and involve a broader sector of the population--including those with the least voice in the decisions that affect their health and lives--more traditional means of communication are also needed. These include newsletters, radio, videos, and street theater, as well as community health workers, union organizers, and others who learn to be effective educators and agents of change.

For all this to happen--and for the movement behind the People's Health Assembly to stay alive--all of us involved must look for ways to contribute and to encourage others to contribute, each in our own way.

It will be an uphill battle, but the struggle is worth it. In the long run, it is a struggle for the life, health, and survival of our species and our planet.