Press Release: URGENT (For media enquiries, please call India : +91 98450 91319) G 8 Summit : PHM calls for a New World Economic Order Evian, London, Colombo, Bangalore- 1st June, 2003 : As yet another meeting of G8 heads of states starts on June 1, 2003 the People's Health Movement calls upon people around the world to peacefully protest against the policies of neo-liberal globalisation imposed on them by the G8 rich countries. "Over 90,000 children will die from preventable diseases during just the three days when G8 will be held. Poverty, non-access to health care and lack of basic sanitation are the key reasons for these deaths. The G 8 leaders should be doing a serious soul searching," said a PHM spokesperson. Globalisation and unfair multilateral trade agreements have enabled the G 8 to keep the wealth in the developed countries leaving 1.3 billion people in developing countries to live on less than one dollar a day. Across the world about 56 percent of the population lives below two dollars a day. Meanwhile about 20 percent of the world's population living in OECD countries today control approximately 80 percent of the resources and wealth of the world. When producers in developing countries enter the market, they face import barriers four times as high as those faced by the producers in the rich countries. These barriers imposed by the rich cost the developing countries US $ 100 billion a year. This is twice as much as the poor countries receive as aid from the rich. The PHM considers it ironical that the G8, which is the cause of global poverty, has taken upon itself the task of eradicating poverty. If Africa, East Asia, South Asia and Latin America were to increase their share of world export by one percent, the resulting income could lift 128 million people out of poverty. But the low and unstable commodity prices that consign millions into poverty are never an issue at the summit meetings of G8. Ill-conceived economic policies pushed by the World Bank and IMF onto developing countries have been responsible for the debt crisis in the Third World. Each day developing countries pay rich nations US $ 717 million in debt service. Every baby born in the developing world carries an external debt of US $ 482 at birth. The leaders of G8 have never seriously addressed the devastation caused by such external debt on the world's poorer countries. The objectives of the peaceful protests planned at the G8 summit meetings are to: 1.. Hold a mirror to G8 leaders to let them and the world know the enormous injustice inflicted on poor developing countries in the name of globalisation and free trade. 2.. Campaign for a New World Economic Order which will guarantee distributive justice so that economic growth will ensure social and human development and there will be equity in access to and control of resources leading to equitable distribution of wealth. 3.. Let the people of the world know that the existing institutions are inadequate to meet the aspirations of the ordinary people of the world. The People's Health Movement is a people-oriented global initiative that evolved out of the People´s Health Assembly (PHA), a historic summit that was held in December 2000 in Bangladesh. Over 1453 participants from 92 countries met for the PHA that was the culmination of 18 months of preparatory action around the globe. (signed for PHM) Dr. K Balasubramaniam , Health Action International, Asia- Pacific, Colombo, SriLanka Dr. Pam Zinkin , International People's Health Council, London. Dr. Ravi Narayan, Co-ordinator, PHM Secretariat (Global), Bangalore, India +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For PHM media enquiries (permanent contacts) : India: Dr. Unnikrishnan PV , +91 (0) 98450 91319 : unnikru@yahoo.com London: Andrew Chetley, London : +44 20 7539 1591 chetley.a@healthlink.org.uk Thailand: Satya Sivaraman (E-mail: satyasagar@yahoo.com ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- PHM Secretariat: CHC, # 367, Jakkasandra 1st Main, 1st Block, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 034 India. Tel.: 91-80-5128 009 / Telefax: 91-80-552 53 72 E-mail: secretariat@phmovement.org Website: http://www.phmovement.org +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++