Concept Paper

At the very outset, we have to note that all of us are now living in a world of extreme inequalities of different sorts between households/social groups /regions/countries. These inequalities are objectionable both from ethical as well as from economic perspective. They lead to economic inefficiency, political/social conflicts and institutional weaknesses. Such a situation naturally has far reaching implications in accessing health care, in getting quality education and in brief the nature of life an individual is entitled in the present socio-economic order. Studies conducted in developing countries of Latin America, Africa and South Asia reveal that the underprivileged section of population in these regions has less voice, less income and less access to social services like public health/education(UNDP,Human Development Reports,2002,7-34/2005,61-67).

Health being a concept that relates strongly with the individuality and body consciousness of individuals can have different connotations for various people. Biomedically, health is viewed as the absence of diagnosed diseases. WHO extended this by defining health holistically as a "state of complete physical, mental, social wellbeing and not merely the absence of diseases or infirmity". Later, Scholars like Cornwell (1984), Helman (1984), Eyles and Donovan (1990), Scambler (1997), Butler and Peru (1999) have looked at health from disciplines like Anthropology, Sociology and Economics .

From the late 19th century itself, eminent Scientists like Rudolph Virchow strongly argued that health of society is determined by the socio-economic conditions . His famous report on the social causes of plague in Germany explicitly put forth this thesis. Conditions like poor sanitation, lack of nutritious food and poverty in general made a society unhealthy. Critical Social Scientists such as Dubos (1960), McKeon (1979) stressed the point that medicine has a relatively minor impact in determining health of a society. Ivan Illich (1971) contributed much to the notion that medicines have limitations in making individuals healthy. Recently Ray Strand (2004) made a very shocking revelation that the use of prescription medicine was the third leading cause of death in USA . Schofield and Rher (1991) and Bunker (1995) have pointed out that differences in access to effective health care could have significant impact on health. Differences in levels of education, availability of doctors and other complementary staff, supporting infrastructure, and of course incomes and consumption pattern determine differences in health between various communities.

Social health views health as an outcome of a host of socio-economic- political factors and the quality of health care delivery system. Health care in this scheme implies more than professional health services to include a range of formal and informal services required to maintain good health. These include action by common man to care for their own health and provide informal care for other in their social groups.

It is thus obvious that there are non-medical services and resources which have crucial effects on the direct determinants of health. For instance, we can identify the services providing education, housing, and access to employment, social security mechanisms and environmental quality. The concept of social health attempts to capture the relationship of social factors and health of person/ society. Medical doctors like Strand (2004) and Nelson (2001) have focused the significant influence of dietary habits and life styles in influencing health of a person .

It is in this context, the concept of Peoples Health Movement (PHM) has to be evaluated. PHM is a net work of 350 base organizations from 80 countries formed in the late 1990s. It has held two International Assemblies (Savar, Bangladesh, 2000 and Cuenca, Ecuador, 2005).The first assembly put forward a Peoples Health Charter, a historic document summarizing the ideological stand of the PHM. During the Cuenca assembly, this document was further revised and updated.