Joining together to combat poverty: everybody welcome and needed

Abstract

The International Poverty and Health Network was created in December 1997 after a series of conferences organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) with the aim of integrating health into plans to eradicate poverty. Its formation was a response to the evidence of the persistent and growing burden of human suffering due to poverty. This is a worldwide (members from 46 countries) network of people and organisations from health, business, non-governmental organisations, and government who seek to influence policy to protect and improve the health of the world's poor, particularly the poorest in all countries. The network urges that a balance must be struck between social development and growth in income; between the human and financial dimensions of poverty; and between redistribution and market reforms. Its aspiration is to achieve a balance between biomedical and social approaches; between community based health development and a response to individuals; between prevention of disease, promotion of health, and treatment; and between physical and mental health. The more people who join the greater the likely impact of the network.

This editorial has already been published in the BMJ (2000;320:1–2) and on Medscape and it is hoped that a version will appear in many other medical journals. International signatories appear on the BMJ's website, www.bmj.com.