Por: GTPI

Last week, a huge meeting on Social Determinants for Health was held in Rio. Despite all the publicity around it during international meetings such as the 64 WHA at Geneva and the U.N High Level Meeting on HIV/Aids last June at New York, the brazilian government was incapable of ensuring a plural and representative participation of brazilian civil society groups.

Although the slogan of the Conference was “Governments and civil society towards the collective commitment of fighting health inequities”, the established criteria for civil society participation – especially for those organizations from Brazil – adopted either by the World Health Organization (WHO) or by the Brazilian government are unknown. Such fact shows problems regarding transparency, democratic participation and representation. Besides this exclusion is a clear violation of fundamental principles upon which brazilian public health system was created (creation that was deeply related with brazilian civil society involvement by the way…)

So, please find below a letter sent to the brazilian Ministry of Health and other actors involved with this conference undersigned by several organizations and individuals.
 

Mr. Alexandre Padilha
Minister of Health

Cc:
Mr. Jarbas Barbosa, Secretary of Health Vigilance of MoH
Mr. Luiz Odorico M. de Andrade, Secretary of Strategic and Participative Menagement of the MoH
Mr. Paulo Buss, coordinator of CRIS/Fiocruz
Mr. Silvio Albuquerque, Head of Social Themes Division of Ministry of Foreign Affairs
 

Organizers of the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health

We congratulate the Brazilian government for holding the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health (WCSDH), which is taking place in Rio de Janeiro from the 19th to the 21st of October of 2011. We believe it is an opportunity to discuss strategies and methodologies to tackle health inequities by acting over its social determinants. However, we deeply regret the fact that a large number of Brazilian civil society was excluded from this moment of exchange and reflection.

The undersigned organizations and individuals would like to express their deep regret for the conduct and management of the call of civil society to be part of this Conference. Although the slogan of the Conference is “Governments and civil society towards the collective commitment of fighting health inequities”, the established criteria for civil society participation – especially for those organizations from Brazil – adopted either by the World Health Organization (WHO) or by the Brazilian government are unknown. Such fact shows problems regarding transparency, democratic participation and representation. The lack of criteria of participation goes against the United Nations (UN) principles themselves. Over the last years, several resolutions

[1] expressed the importance of adopting criteria that would facilitate civil society participation at national, regional and international level, in view of the UN recognition of civil society expertise and capacity to support UN’s work.

This position also reflects a complete lack of consistency with the discourse being adopted by the Brazilian government. As an example, last May, in the Brazilian statement during the 64th World Health Assembly, regarding WHO’s reform, Mr. Padilha, Minister of Health, said: “it is urgent to listen more carefully to what civil society has to say” [2]. In June, in an article published in the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, the same Minister said that “partnership with civil society in building strategies to fight AIDS” would be an element to be taken by the Brazilian delegation to the UN High-Level Meeting on AIDS, held in New York [3]. Still, Mr. Paulo Buss, again during the 64th WHA, in the presence of Brazilian civil society organizations, stated that the Brazilian government was “anxious to have a strong participation of civil society” [4] at the WCSDH.

Faced with such objective statements, it is truly regrettable that the criteria to invite participants from civil society to the WCSDH were not clearly defined, in order to guarantee a plural and representative participation, considering the diversity of organizations who are active in the field of public health in Brazil. Once more, the most interested people in the formulation and implementation of solutions to inequities in health were excluded from the locus of decision and are invisible to the Brazilian State representatives.

 

Notes:
[1] Article 71st, UN Charter; Resolution 1296 (XLIV), May, the 23rd, 1968, Res. 1993/80 of July, the 30th of 1993; Decision 1995/304, July, the 26th of 1995, among others.
[2] http://www.keionline.org/node/1137
[3] Luta contra Aids completa 30 anos [Fight against Aids completes 30 years], Alexandre Padilha: http://www.saudecomdilma.com.br/index.php/2011/06/05/luta-contra-aids-completa-30-anos/
[4] http://www.ghwatch.org/who-watch/WHA64/DayTwo

 

Signatures

Organizations

1. Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Transexuais e Travestis (ABGLT)
2. Associação Brasileira Interdisciplinar de AIDS – ABIA
3. Associação Potiguar de Redução de Danos
4. Católicas pelo Direito de Decidir do Brasil
5. Federação Nacional dos Farmacêuticos
6. Forum de ONGs AIDS do Estado de São Paulo
7. Fórum ONGs Tuberculose – RJ
8. Gestos HIV, Comunicação e Gênero
9. GIV (Grupo de Incentivo à VIda)
10. Grupo Água Viva – Luiz Carlos Bessa do Sacramento
11. Instituto Brasileiro de Inovações em saúde Social – IBISS
12. Instituto de Defesa do Consumidos – IDEC
13. Liga Norteriograndense de Apoio e Combate a Aids
14. Maria Auxiliadora Guilherme Peixoto Ferreira
15. Observatório Tuberculose Brasil
16. Pela Vidda – Rio de Janeiro
17. Projeto Esperança de São Miguel Paulista
18. Red Argentina de Personas Positivas (Redar Positiva)
19. Rede Brasil sobre Instituições Financeiras Multilaterais
20. SIDADANIA – RN
21. Sindicato dos Farmacêuticos de Minas Gerais – SINFARMIG

Individuals

1. Álef Pita Gomes
2. Alessandra Aniceto Ferreira de Figueirêdo
3. Alexandra Lopes da Costa
4. Aline da Silva Pacheco Oliveira
5. Ana Luisa Baptista
6. Ana Maria Ferraz Barros
7. Analice de Oliveira
8. Andre Mantelli
9. Angêla Teixeira de Freitas
10. Antonio Carlos de Souza Pires
11. Aritania Maria Santos
12. Beatriz Galli
13. Beto de Jesus
14. Bruna Andrade Irineu
15. Camila Giugliani
16. Carlos Alberto
17. Cássia Reis
18. Cecilia Leite Motta de Oliveira
19. Celso de Britto
20. Claudia Elizabeth Rodrigues Galindo
21. Claudio Ricardo Silva de Oliveira
22. Cleide Jane Figueiró de Araujo
23. Cristiane Gonçalves da Silva
24. Daniela Silva Ferreira
25. Dario Sergio Rosa Coelho
26. Edinalva da Silva Monteiro
27. Eleutéria Amora da Silva
28. Eliane Aparecida Vieira da Macena
29. Elisabeth Meloni Vieira
30. Felipe de Carvalho
31. Fernando Seffner
32. Geovane da Conceição Màximo
33. Hélia Mara De Deus
34. Humberto Corrêa
35. Ignez Helena Oliva Perpetuo
36. Irina Bacci
37. Jamerson Júnior
38. Janaína Elisa Patti de Faria
39. Jandira Queiroz e Cavalcanti
40. Jéssica Machado
41. Jorge A Beloqui
42. Jorge Lyra
43. Jorge Renato da Matta Xavier
44. Jose Marcio Machado Batista
45. Joselia Batista da Silva Lages
46. Juan Carlos de la Concepción Raxach
47. Juana Kweitel
48. Karin de Russi
49. Leandra Migotto Certeza
50. Lorena Lima de Moraes
51. Lucas Lenin Resende de Assis
52. Luiz Henrique Coletto
53. Mª Christina Zanio Alkmim
54. Marcela Cristina Fogaça Vieira
55. Márcia Helena de Souza
56. Marcia Milena Pivatto Serra
57. Marcos David Guerreiro
58. Maria Luiza Heilborn
59. Marilena Cordeiro Dias Villela Correa
60. Marina Maria Ribeiro
61. Mateus Costa Santos
62. Meire Hellen Souza Dos Santos
63. Melissa Garcia Machado
64. Michéle Mansor
65. Michelle Rodrigues
66. Mitchelle Benevides Meira
67. Monica Edelenyi Pinto
68. Neide Heloisa Outeiro Pinto
69. Pâmella Aparecida Ferreira dos Santos
70. Paola Andréa Saavedra Varela
71. Patricia Diez Rios
72. Paulo Roberto Giacomini
73. Pedro de Araujo Gomes
74. Pedro Ivo de Souza Batista
75. Pedro Villardi
76. Priscila Maria Reis Galvão
77. Renata Carvalho da Silva
78. Renata Reis
79. Rilke Novato Públio
80. Roberto Pereira
81. Rosa Sebastiana Colman
82. Rosilene Souza Gomes de Cerqueira
83. Rosineide de Lourdes Meira Cordeiro
84. Ruy Rego Barros
85. Sandra Aparecida de Almeida
86. Sandra Garcia
87. Sandro Candiles
88. Sarah Helena Linke
89. Sergio Fabiano Cabral
90. Sérgio Rodrigues
91. Sergio Souza Costa
92. Silvia Marques Dantas
93. Simone Florindo Costa
94. Sonia Corrêa
95. Sueli Alves Barbosa
96. Tânia Maria Guelpa Clemente
97. Terezinha de Fátima Rodrigues
98. Thiago Simoni
99. Toni Reis
100. Ulisses Nogueira de Aguiar
101. Vera Lúcia Moreira Garcia
102. Virginia Maria Campos de Figueiredo
103. Wanda Lucia Branco Guimaraes
104. Wilma Silva Ferraz