Health

Earlier this month the Fiji Nursing Association’s held a two day symposium Nurses: A voice to lead – Health is a Human Right. The symposium was inspirational and provided some hope for achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals, but it was also a moment of identified risks and human rights not met.

Get the latest global news on health and social care services. People over Profit! #PublicHealth4All. Right to Health newsletter Issue 04 (April/May 2018).

On May Day, Comrade Donald Gyimah, a member of PSI’s affiliated union the Health Services Workers’ Union (HSWU) in Ghana, was announced as the 2018 National Best Worker.

Around 16,000 nurses in Zimbabwe resumed work bringing to an end one week of strikes that affected health services in the country.

The health workforce is the backbone of the health and social care delivery system. Achieving health for all requires universal access to a well-motivated health and social workforce, globally. The World Health Organization noted that there will be a shortfall of 18 million health and social workers by 2030 if urgent steps are not taken immediately. And that would make it impossible for universal health care to be instituted, as envisaged in Agenda 2030.

7,850 workers die every day from accidents at the workplace or occupational diseases stemming largely from poor working conditions. 2.78 million workers continue to die each year from work-related injuries and illnesses. 2.4 million of these deaths can be attributed to work-related diseases alone.

Over the last year, there have been renewed deliberations on what direction the pathways to health for all in Africa would take. The 1st World Health Organization Africa Forum held in Kigali, Rwanda on 27-28 June 2017 set the context, with the theme: “Putting People First: The Road to Universal Health Coverage in Africa”. The Geneva Graduate Institute encouraged further discussion with a panel discussion on “The Future of Health in Africa” on 23 January 2018.

Over 3,000 working-class people and youth marched on the streets of Buenos Aires on 1 December 2017 to demand universal public healthcare. This marked the opening of the 1st Congress of the Movement for the Right to Health, (Movimiento por el Derecho a la Salud - MDS), for universal health care and against the commodification of health.

On Wednesday 25 April, PSI affiliates join the World Health Organization (WHO), governments, and civil society organisations to observe the World Malaria Day 2018. The day serves to provide information on the year-long implementation of national malaria-control strategies, including community-based activities for malaria prevention and treatment in endemic areas.