1st International Film Festival on Health and Rights

The three documentaries shown covered a range of different topics that highlighted people’s vulnerability in the face of economic interests in a world indifferent to poverty and inequality. .

On 5, 6 and 7 December, we held the 1^st International Conference on the Social Determinants of Health, in the city of Maputo, Mozambique. The event took place in the historic Scala Cine-Theatre and included discussion and reflection on the real barriers to achieving the right to health.

The three documentaries shown – The Waiting Room, Tales from the Organ Trade and Gold Fever – covered a range of different topics that highlighted people’s vulnerability in the face of economic interests in a world indifferent to poverty and inequality.

On the first day, in The Waiting Room we observed 24 hours in an unequal and exclusionary health system. On the second day, Tales from the Organ Trade raised a difficult question to answer: are we prepared to buy or sell an organ to survive in an unequal world? Finally, on the third day we watched Gold Fever, a documentary produced by medicusmundi, which helped us analyse the impact artisanal mining has on the environmental, society and health – not just in Mozambique and among artisanal miners, but worldwide.

There was good audience participation, not only from participants at the 1^st International Conference on the Social Determinants of Health, who did not want to miss this opportunity, but also from young filmmakers, artists, students, researchers etc. We found the comments, suggestions and observations from our participants very enriching as we continue to improve our work to defend the right to health.

Hope to see you on the second edition!