Dear friends,
IPHU gets stronger each year. In 2008 we ran three excellent courses, in Jaipur in March, in Cairo also in March and in Porto Alegre in September. See photos at:
Fund raising remains a challenge. We have around 6-7 courses scheduled for 2009 but we are reluctant to proceed until the funding for each is secure.
We are developing a very exciting research project at the present time entitled Community Action for Health. We are seeking to collect and learn from instances where primary health care agencies and practitioners have worked with communities to push for improvements in health care or to address the social determinants of health.
Governance of IPHU and its relationship with the new PHM Global Secretariat will be addressed in 2009. As IPHU gets bigger and more complex we need to get a bit more structured in our organisation.
We were shocked to hear of the death of Wunime Abugri, one of our brothers from Ghana earlier this month. People who knew Wunime were devastated. He was a young man of energy, commitment, charm, humor. Emails expressing grief and condolence came in from Ghana, South Africa, Australia, India, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Brazil, Yemen, Uganda, Belgium, USA, Canada, Egypt, Vietnam, Pakistan and Georgia.
The struggle for health will be fierce and difficult in 2009 as the global economic crisis bites deeper. The need for a strong political economic analysis and for building a stronger people's health movement has never been more pressing.
Warmest wishes to all from the IPHU organising group.
