Member organizations of the Alliance for Health participated, between May 23rd and 27th, in a training taught by People’s Health Movement (PHM)
Member organizations of the Alliance for Health participated, between May 23rd and 27th, in a training taught by People’s Health Movement (PHM) on Social Determinants of Health, Advocacy and Health Activism, under the activities of the School of Health Activism (SHA).
This training arises from the need and importance of developing exchanges of experiences between international network work initiatives. The themes covered over these five days were: the social determinants of health; community mobilization and intersectoral collaboration; the analysis of the National Health System; advocacy and activism; capacity building of movements; and, campaigns and action planning on advocacy and defence of the universal right to health.
The participants in this training, conducted by Tinashe Njanji and Peninah Khisa, PHM members in South Africa and Kenya, respectively, were able to learn through didactic manuals and explanatory videos on the themes under study, as well as perform practical gap identification activities and seeking solutions on the right to health.
During the training, it was possible to identify some existing health problems in Mozambique and also to try to develop possible solutions. One of the problems presented is related to the life expectancy of the population in Mozambique who, according to Melanie Alperstein, another PHM participant in South Africa, "is far below what is desirable".
Melanie, who intervened via online, also mentioned that “everyone's engagement is important to improve primary health services” as a healthy community depends on access to basic health care. "If we have good social health determinants, this will improve the level of life expectancy in Mozambique" said this activist.
The training also had the participation of Dr Eusébio Chaquisse, Head of the Central Department for Primary Health Care in Mozambique, at the Ministry of Health, who presented a research on the National Health System and Primary Health Care.
For Dr Eusébio Chaquisse, "primary health care is essential care that should be closer to people". Chaquisse also appealed to health activists to be more vehement to influence rulers in decision making.
In one of the workshop sessions, Peninah Khisa stated that in both Kenya and Mozambique, governments have generated normative documents and good policies. However, the problem arises at the time of its implementation, hence the importance of civil society to make pressure to comply with public policies, advocating for the good of the whole society.
Once the training was over, the participants expressed themselves able to develop more effective activism campaigns and thus mobilize more people for the right to health in the country.
It should be noted that at the end of the training it was decided that the Alliance for Health will from now on be the focal point of People’s Health Movement in Mozambique.
This activity has been carried out with the financial support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) within the Agreement 18-CO1-1096 «Improving the population's health based on its Social Determinants, with special focus on nutrition, through the strengthening of Primary Health Care as the best strategy to ensure the right to health and the collaboration of civil society, research institutions, and the National Health System». The content of this news is the sole responsibility of medicusmundi and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the AECID.