Economic-Financial Drivers of an Unequal World

The People’s Global Summit. Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind starts 29 June to 2 July 2022. The Summit will run 24 hours for four days.

During the Summit people will be able to share their experiences and stories in different ways including presentations from people in communities, live panels, open mic rooms, storytelling, interviews, and many more.

WFPHA facilitates a live panel, Economic-Financial Drivers of an Unequal World, on 29 June, at 14:30 (UTC). This panel highlights that we have to revise our incentives and learn how to counteract the prevailing economic drivers in order to preserve the health of people and the planet.

Join us to contribute to a new eco-social world that leaves no one behind.

The People’s Global Summit

The People’s Global Summit. Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind has been initiated by 24 diverse global organisations representing different faiths, philosophies, rights movements, workforces, generations, traditions, and cultures. This historical event brings together people from across the world. The summit seeks to create new ways to work together to ensure sustainability and good quality of life.

The summit provides spaces where everyone can contribute. These include keynote sessions, live panels, live open mic rooms, Indigenous-led sessions, interviews, academic presentations, and many more.

The summit will run 24 hours a day for four days, 29 June to 2 July 2022. The WFPHA is very proud to be a partner to the summit.

Join us to contribute to a new eco-social world that leaves no one behind.

Public Health and the Duty to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

The first Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) took place in Vienna, Austria, in June 2022.

Several side events were organised during this meeting. On 23 June 2022, WFPHA delegate Prof. Bettina Borisch participated in the “Public Health and the Duty to Abolish Nuclear Weapons” side event, organized by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Costa Rica and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), to build upon a recent joint statement and call for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

During the side event, Prof. Borisch said:

“As of today, we must acknowledge: The state of the world is not really great. Everyday news is overwhelming. We are at a point with two main existential threats: Climate crisis and the nuclear threats.

The existing nuclear weapons around the world are enough to wipe out all of humanity. Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a steady decline in nuclear weapons. This trend is now reversing. Nuclear competition and nuclear risk are increasing.

I represent the voice of public health community around the world. For us it is absolutely clear when it comes to nuclear weapons. We have enough evidence that they have to be abolished, it is now time for advocacy, we have to persuade the governments around world.

I started saying that the world is not in a great state; this may sound desperate, but it is not!

This side event is organized by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Costa Rica and IPPNW. Costa Rica is an example to the world that it is possible to live in an unarmed democracy. This was a decision of the government, and this has allowed Costa Rica to become a pacifist, civilian nation, that resolves conflicts and external threats by using instruments provided by International Law. The abolition of the army marked a new experience, showing it is possible for a country to live without an army, and investing these resources in education and health.

I mentioned at the beginning two main threats that we have right now. How is climate crisis dealt with in Costa Rica? Costa Rica was named the second most sustainable country in the world by the World Energy Council. Costa Rica takes care of its nature and its biodiversity.

Let me conclude by this positive note. We are able to reverse threats! Let me cite Former President Rodrigo Carazo Odio, who said, “Costa Ricans have cultivated a spirit of seeking peaceful solutions to conflicts; education has fostered such an attitude and because in the absence of [military] weapons with which to impose an idea, the only weapon left is reason.”

Let us use reason!”

Intersection between Climate Change, Public Health, and International Law: A Report

By Hannah Marcus

Recently, our Environmental Health Working Group published a new report titled “Legal implications of the climate-health crisis: a case study analysis of the role of public health in climate litigation” in PLOS One. This report contributes significantly to the current knowledge base concerning the intersection between climate change, public health, and international law, which is of growing prominence in the current global context.

As climate attribution science matures, the legal implications of climate change are gaining more attention. Similarly, there is greater public awareness of climate-health links, which supports increased use of public health claims in allegations of wrongdoing. Few researchers, however, have adopted a specifically public health lens when studying such legal implications, despite the evidence-backed merit of claims that climate disruption is a breach of the very laws intended to safeguard human health and well-being.

The evidence presented in this report comes from a global review of case studies of climate litigation, with a focus on the diplomatic framing and judicial consideration of public health concerns when justifying legal actions taken. Considering the shortcomings identified in the use and acceptance of public health claims in legal argumentation used for litigation, the report concludes with a series of practical recommendations. These largely concern the creation of new legal incentives to position public health as a central focus in climate litigation and the promotion of greater public and industry awareness of climate-health links.

This report not only bridges the gaps in current literature on the topic, but it also provides a stronger knowledge base on which to build legal frameworks supportive of health-protective climate action. This offers important academic and practical contributions to the legal and policy realm associated with the intensifying climate crisis.

Governments Must Break Big Pharma-WTO Stranglehold on Access to Medicine: A Global Call to Action

In June 2022, the World Trade Organization (WTO) concludes its most significant decision-making meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), without agreement to temporarily waive WTO intellectual property rules restricting the production and supply of COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.

The temporarily waiver has been demanded by the vast majority of the world’s countries and by public health experts, generic medicine manufacturers, human rights advocates, faith leaders, community groups, and many more. WFPHA has supported the demand by sending an open letter to the WTO, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Secretary-General of the United Nations (SG-UN), joining an urgent call to governments, and urging the WTO to do everything in its power to achieve agreement to the temporarily waiver.

In response to the ongoing failure to adopt the temporary waiver, WFPHA joins civil society organizations around the globe to call on governments to take actions to ensure everyone has access to the COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics necessary to save lives and end the pandemic.

The Casebook on Advocacy in Public Health Is Now Available in Chinese!

In June 2021, WFPHA published the Casebook on Advocacy in Public Health to highlight the importance of advocacy as a core function of public health. The Casebook brings together 18 cases of effective public health advocacy from around the world to share knowledge and best practices and to support public health associations and professionals in their activities.

The Casebook is now available in Chinese! We thank our member the Chinese Preventive Medicine Associations for their help with the translation! The Casebook will soon be available in Spanish and French.