26-31 October 2022: How to cope with a world in crisis?

Climate change, pandemic and war: these are huge and partly new challenges for organizations working in the field of international health cooperation. The 2022 series of MMI policy dialogues is related to the Symposium “The world in crisis – climate change, pandemic, and war” hosted by Medicus Mundi Switzerland in Basel, on 2 November. As international network, we usee the opportunity to extend the conversation and invite a broader audience to have a deeper look at how (exactly) to cope with the “world in crisis”.

Session documentations

Wednesday 26 October 2022, 15.30-17.00 CEST
Introduciendo la crisis climática en la cooperación sanitaria: de la teoría a los primeros pasos en la práctica
– session documentation and recording here
– session language: Spanish

Thursday 27 October 2022, 15.30-17.00 CEST
How to better care for those who care for us in times of health emergencies: Time to move from “technical advice” to international legal norms?
– session documentation and recording here
– session language: English

Friday 28 October 2022, 15.30-17.00 CEST
Why Post Growth policies are essential for planetary health
– session documentation and recording here
– session language: English

Monday 31 October 2022, 15.30-17.00 CET
The project of a EU global health strategy: in whose interest will it be?
– session documentation and recording here
– session language: English

Session outlines

Wednesday, 26 October 2022, 15.30-17.00 CEST
Miércoles, 26 de octubre de 2022, 15.30-17.00 CEST

Introduciendo la crisis climática en la cooperación sanitaria:
de la teoría a los primeros pasos en la práctica

¿Cómo puede una organización de la sociedad civil que trabaja en cooperación internacional en salud incorporar acciones concretas relacionadas con la crisis climática en su trabajo habitual? La Federación de Asociaciones de Medicus Mundi en España (FAMME) inició hace más de un año un proceso de reflexión institucional con vistas a desarrollar una estrategia sobre cómo asumir plenamente los retos relacionados con el cambio climático y lo que esto supone para la práctica de la cooperación sanitaria internacional.

En esta sesión, representantes de FAMME describirán el punto de partida, los procesos más relevantes y los principales objetivos de esta estrategia, así como los primeros pasos desarrollados para cambiar su configuración institucional y su práctica. Como ejemplo práctico de cómo desarrollar un proyecto con este nuevo enfoque se presentará una iniciativa de medicusmundi en Bolivia de salud planetaria. También se explicará la herramienta de SanidadPorElClima, desarrollada por la organización ECODES, para que cualquier institución sanitaria pueda incorporar un análisis sobre su huella de carbono y cómo mejorarla. El objetivo de esta sesión es que los actores de la sociedad civil compartan sus propios enfoques para incluir el clima en su trabajo en cooperación, y aprender unos de otros.

Este diálogo de políticas está organizado por Medicus Mundi International Network (MMI), Federación de Asociaciones de Medicus Mundi en España (FAMME) y Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo (ECODES).

Contacto: Carlos Mediano, federacion2@medicusmundi.es

Documentación: aquí

Thursday 27 October 2022, 15.30-17.00 CEST

How to better care for those who care for us in times of health emergencies: Time to move from technical advice to new/stronger international legal norms to protect health and care workers?

After the adoption by the World Health Assembly, in May 2022, of a WHO “global health and care workers compact” as a “technical document to be considered by member states”, the negotiation of a “WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response” by a WHO Intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) would provide an opportunity for defining new international legal norms or strengthening existing ones on how to protect health and care workers in health emergencies and pandemics, in a chronic and global situation of scarcity of skilled people who care for us and risk their lives for doing so.

According to a first working draft of the “pandemic treaty” published in July 2022, “health workforce” is one of the specific fields to be addressed by the proposed new legal instrument. However, the need to protect health and care workers, provide them with decent working conditions and better enable them to defend their rights is not addressed of the draft. What can/shall be demanded from member states in this regard beyond their general commitment to “invest in an adequate, skilled, trained, competent and committed workforce”? What existing norms (ILO and other) need to be explicitly referenced in the new WHO instrument, and may-be strengthened? How will the International Labour Organization (ILO), international unions and health and care workers organized in other ways at a national or international level be heard in the negotiation of the “pandemic treaty”?

Expert roundtable organized by the MMI Secretariat together with external partners.
Contact: Thomas Schwarz, schwarz@medicusmundi.org
Session documentation and recording: here

Friday 28 October 2022, 15.30-17.00 CEST

Why Post Growth policies are essential for planetary health 

In these times of multiple crises, much global health efforts have gone into efforts for technology, medicines and knowledge, such as the Covid-19 vaccine, to become available across countries. While arguably much more investments should be made into Primary Health Care, health workforce development and social health protection, much of the current funding, also via development cooperation, eventually contributes to the steadily growing of a health care business that costs the society and environment more than the benefit it brings.

Poor health care quality and its relative overuse, driven by forces of privatisation and lack of regulatory capacity, has become a reality in high-income countries. To what extent is the financialization of health care, one of the fastest growing economic sectors worldwide, also becoming a problem in lower and middle income countries and what would be alternative policy actions to advance social health justice and overcome deep inequities? Civil society, health and academic experts explore and discuss what social and ecological pathways could entail from a Post Growth perspective.

Policy dialogue hosted by the MMI Secretariat in collaboration with the Centre for Planetary Health Policy (CPHP)
Contact: Remco van de Pas, remco.van.de.pas@cphp-berlin.de
Language: English
Session documentation: here

Monday 31 October 2022, 15.30-17.00 CET

The project of an EU global health strategy: in whose interest will it be?

The Dutch Global Health Alliance (DGHA), with around twenty member organisations, was a key stakeholder in the development of the Dutch Global Health Strategy expected be finalized mid-October 2022. Simultaneously, the European Union (EU) has been developing its own Global Health Strategy. It is important for health activists from all regions of the world to build more momentum and visibility around the added value of effective, sustainable global health strategies, based on a number of principles such as equity, solidarity, human rights, sustainable systems and financing.

As part of the learning process, the DGHA reached out to similar platforms in Europe to learn from their experiences with the development of their respective national global health strategies. The DGHA developed an analysis of the existing Global Health Strategies in European countries which showcased some points of attention. This inspired the DGHA to organize this webinar to exchange good practices and lessons learned from each of the country’s processes, to learn from other perspectives not included in this analysis and to examine possible underlying geopolitics which should be addressed.

Policy dialogue hosted by MMI in collaboration with Cordaid and the DGHA.
Contact: Christina de Vries, christina.de.vries@cordaid.org
Session documentation: here

Overall contact for enquiries:
Thomas Schwarz, Executive Secretary
MMI – Network Health for All
schwarz@medicusmundi.org