The Politics of Health Knowledge Network - Invitation to Participate HealthWrights - Workgroup for People's Health and Rights -is developing an online resource called 'Politics of Health Knowledge Network' (see www.politicsofhealth.org). This will be a user-friendly information-sharing tool providing solid facts and informative analysis so that concerned people can better respond to the most urgent health-related issues confronting humanity. The 'Politics of Health' web site will summarize and place in the larger context a spectrum of major health-related concerns. It will map the connections linking the AIDS/TB pandemic to socioeconomic inequities. It will examine how giant corporations and globalized trade policies effect human and environmental health, why tobacco is becoming the world's number one killer, and how efforts to reduce poverty and global warming have been stymied. It will explore the short and long term health implications of the world's 3 biggest industries: 1) military and arms, 2) illicit drugs, and 3) oil. It will explore the new "public private partnerships" of UN organizations (UNICEF, WHO) with the pharmaceutical companies and junk food industry (the McDonaldization of Primary Health Care) and the World Bank's takeover of Third World policy planning. And to help to explain all of the above, it will document the ways that big money buys public elections and undermines democratic process. And much more. For each of the health-threatening problems that the Network maps out, we will try to include examples of positive alternatives, suggestions for organized action, and information about how to connect with groups working to reform or transform the current unhealthy situation. This online resource is just getting started. The first topic we have begun to develop is the 'Politics of AIDS,' which we will in turn link to the resurgence of tuberculosis. We plan to present published data and reference materials in a way that provides the 'big picture' on AIDS policy, education, prevention and treatment. We also hope to bring together voices from around the world, in a diversity of case studies showing how local events are influenced by policies at the macro level. Following AIDS and TB, we plan to develop a section on the 'Politics of Tobacco.' PLEASE HELP US MAKE THE POLITICS OF HEALTH KNOWLEDGE NETWORK A SUCCESS. With your help it can become an important information-sharing tool. If you have data or information to share, a story to tell, or a lesson to highlight, please send it by email (politicsofhealth@igc.org). The PHA-exchange has generated a wealth of important materials on every aspect of the Politics of Health. These materials have been archived and organized according to broad categories. These archives are an invaluable resource, and one of the goals of the Politics of Health Knowledge Network is to utilize much of this information, pulling it together to form a clear picture with coordinated entry points for collective action. But this will be a huge job. We hope that some of you involved with the PHA-Exchange will be able to take help on this project. It can be a way of making the PHA-Exchange a much more powerful and useful instrument. Through the Politics of Health Knowledge Network we envision making the wealth of data and information in the exchange more easily and widely accessible. Anyone interested, please contact us. HOW YOU CAN HELP: There are several ways people can help in the creation of the Politics of Health Knowledge Network. We need people to help assemble relevant materials, and to help with the logistics of programming, trouble-shooting, and maintaining the website. Topic coordinators. We especially need volunteers who can take responsibility for pulling together key data, information, analysis, and articles on a particular topic or (sub-topic). Persons who are already involved in or especially concerned with a specific topic, might volunteer to develop that topic. For example, "politics of hunger" "politics of the pharmaceutical industry" "trade policies and health," "globalization and health," "environment and health," "politics of population policies," "healthy vs. unhealthy models of socioeconomic development," etc., etc. For each topic, we are specifically looking for: Key Data and Talking Points. We ask your help in pulling together key, well-referenced data, relevant to the politics of health, which makes clear points and can be used in constructing useful, convincing arguments. Especially useful are "talking points" that juxtapose facts in an eye-opening way. (For example, "Of the world's 100 biggest economies, 51 are transnational corporations and only 49 are nations." Or "WHO estimates that an additional $1 billion per year is needed to halve the incidence of TB by 2020. "The world spends $15 million a year on golf, $30 billion a year on pet food, and $4,000 billion a day on international speculative investments (the global casino)." Policy and Situational Analysis We are looking for clear, well-referenced analysis of government or global policies, and critiques of international bodies (right now, especially concerning AIDS and Tobacco, but also on any other health-related issue). We particularly want to give an opportunity to marginalized groups to voice their concerns. Send us your own writings, or any information/articles you consider important, on political aspects of the AIDS/TB or other public health issues. Links and Interaction. We especially want to draw on information/experiences that show how one particular concern ties into others, and how different forces affecting health interconnect. For example, the links between AIDS and TB are evident. But we would also like help in documenting the links of HIV/AIDS with poverty, socioeconomic polarization (and its many causes), debt burden, SAPs, gender and racial inequality, chronic nutritional deficit, drug companies, patent laws, trade policies, religious dogma, and - perhaps above all else - the multinational attempt to combat AIDS by disciplining the behavior of victims rather than confronting the need to build a more equitable, health-conducive, and sustainable socioeconomic environment. Case Studies Voices from around the world, especially those in remote locales and villages, sharing success stories as well as failures in their fight against AIDS (or other health issue). You could tell us your own story and what impact your work is having. Again, we especially want stories that draw a link between policies at the macro level and how they effect people's health and lives at the micro level. A brief write-up will be adequate. A drawing or photo that drives home a key point can give the story more power, and will help bring the web site to life. Positive Alternatives and Organized Action To balance the discouraging data and critical analysis with positive alternatives and possibilities of action, we hope to devote a separate section to 'Positive Alternatives'. We will document action taken and advocacy efforts to reform or transform unhealthy policies, from the local to global level. To contribute, you could describe a PROBLEM/ISSUE faced by your community and then provide the ACTION/STRATEGY taken to improve the situation. Others facing similar problems can learn from your experience. -------- OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP: Politics of Health is taking shape almost entirely with volunteer efforts, and will remain a collectively owned and sustained resource. We are looking not only for persons to send in useful material, and to coordinate the collection and presentation of material on specific topics, as indicated above. WE ALSO DESPERATELY NEED PERSONS WILLING TO HELP WITH THE ORGANIZATION PRESENTATION, AND MAPPING OF THE LINKS BETWEEEN TOPICS TO FORM THE LARGER PICTURE. We are still figuring out the best way to organize and lay out the web site and to map the related subjects within the larger picture. In short, we need all the help we can get, in many areas. If you think there is any way you might help, please contact us. Looking forward to your interest and involvement. David Werner, Shefali Gupta, 'Politics of Heath Knowledge Network' Email: politicsofhealth@igc.org Website: www.politicsofhealth.org