The Struggle for Health: IPHU at GK, Nov 2007; Program Page

Goals and objectives

The goal of IPHU is to contribute to achieving Health For All by strengthening the people's health movement by providing learning opportunities which are well targetted and address priority learning needs and which are well designed and presented.

The learning objectives which are assumed in the design of the course include:

• broaden my understanding of global health;
• deepen my understanding of the political economy of health;
• learn from the experience of Health For All: about comprehensive
  primary health care; and about health systems policy
• learn about ‘development assistance’ in health and about the politics of
  ‘health sector reform’;
• explore the roles that health activists can play (are playing) in the struggle
  for people’s health;
• work through the implications of gender equity in health work (and other axes of difference) and acquire new skills and strategies for greater effectiveness in this field;
• explore the application of a rights-based approach to health issues;
• acquire new frameworks for analysing health issues; new strategies of
  engagement; and new skills in working with communities and with social movements;
• deepen my understanding of the People’s Charter for Health.

The IPHU approach to learning

• Start with the struggle for health
• Teach and learn in partnership
• Knowledge is for practice and purpose
• New ideas must be used
• Activism is an ethical commitment
• Learn new ways of being (as well as new facts and theories)
• Reflect, enquire, research
• Leadership: judgement which inspires; the courage to take risks
• Learn to listen to learn
• Steer our own learning
• Grow the skills and habits of life long learning
• Learn to teach; teach to learn
• Stay with the struggle for health

Preparation

Participants should come prepared:

• to describe in some detail an activist project or campaign or movement that they have been directly involved in; to describe in sufficient detail for the strategies, theories and skills of practice to be evident; see participant abstracts submitted in advance of the course;
• to provide an overall assessment of the health challenges in their country and the status and prospects for PHM;
• to offer a presentation on a particular topic of relevance to the IPHU curriculum.

Students should provide an abstract of their activism case study and of their volunteered topic.
Students should visit the IPHU website and review all of the pages linked from the Library Page (which will form the core of the material for formal presentation and discussion). Students should come prepared to comment on the implications for their own countries of the material covered in the different topics. For example:

• what is the extent of brain drain and what is being done about it?
• what is the role of the WB and IMF in health sector reform?
• what are the implications of the WTO (eg GATS)
• what is the role of the GFATM in own country; access to medicines.

The program for the GK Short Course is based on the People’s Charter for Health (PCH). We will explore the meaning of the PCH; analyse the challenges it presents and develop resources and strategies for the struggle for Health For All. Participants should ensure that they are very familar with the Charter. Try the PCH Quiz as a way of working systematically through the PCH and reflecting upon what we need to know in order to realise the vision.

The GK Short Course comprises the first two weeks of the GK Fellowships. More about the GK Fellowships

Course Program

The course will involve: lectures, small group discussions, debates, workshops and field trips and follow up study. Resource materials will take the form of hard copy readings, lecture notes and websites.

See program overview.

Course Program - by the day

Sun 11
Mon 12
Tues 13
Wed 14
Thurs 15
Fri 16
Sat 17
Sun 18
Mon 19
Tues 20
Wed 21
Thurs 22
Fri 23
Sat 24

Project Groups
The project groups have several purposes. One is simply getting to know each other. But they also provide a space in which to plan for projects which PHM might take up (or on-going PHM projects) which build solidarity and collaboration across national boundaries.
Project Group Reports
Aid Effectiveness (John)
Brain Drain (Connie
Intellectual Property Rights and Access to Essential Meds
Nutrition in Bangladesh
Occupational Health (Nicholas and Phuong)
Right to Health Campaign (Caroline(
SDH Project (Jeph)

Country Groups
The country groups provide a place for discussing PHM-building in our own countries.
Country Group Reports:
Africa
Bangladesh
Brazil
Europe
India doc and India PPT
Iran
South East Asia (and Sri Lanka)

Panel Discussion
This is a place in which we can debate questions to which there are no easy answers. We collect questions in advance for the panel's consideration.

Reports from Practice
Focused attention on detailed stories of activist practice. What can we learn from each other?
CWG (Caroline)
Naripokkho (Nazmoon)
Community mobilisation (Premdas)
Campaign against Coca Cola (Brendan)
Nutrition in Himachal Pradesh (Karen)

Academic accreditation
IPHU short course participants who are enrolled in an MPH and request accreditation of their training as part of their MPH will be required to submit assignments for assessment and will be provided with formal certification regarding the standard of the program and of their achievement.

The IPHU short course study program is presented at masters level. The IPHU short course (with assessment) corresponds to one eighth of one full time full year study load. IPHU does not, at this stage, provide full degree programs.

It remains the prerogative of the enrolling university to decide whether or not to grant credit for the short course as part of the MPH they offer. Applicants who are contemplating seeking accreditation of IPHU training towards their MPH are advised to consult with the academic authorities of their enrolling university. The IPHU Coordinator would be pleased to provide additional information as required.