Chair,
It is my pleasure to address you as representative of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and as Chairman of the Federation's Health and Community Services Commission and in that capacity as an observer to this meeting.
The Red Cross network consists of 189 national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies with more than 100 million members and volunteers working throughout the globe (and around Europe) to improve the health of vulnerable people, be it in emergency situations or during normal circumstances.
At this meeting where the committee is reviewing the revised European Social Charter the issues of securing equitable and non-discriminatory access to health care appropriate quality, including services in emergency situations and access also for the most vulnerable is a particular concern to the Red Cross in accordance with its humanitarian vision of combating diseases and having a positive impact on the health and well-being of vulnerable people.
The transformations that have taken place in Europe over the past 15 years have produced significant economic and social change providing better opportunities for some but increased vulnerability for large numbers of others. This has meant the emergence of new health problems like HIV/AIDS and the re-emergence on a larger scale of old problems like tuberculosis, in some areas even malaria and an increase in the health problems associated with pregnancy, delivery, early childhood and those associated with international migration.
The Red Cross and Red Crescent can testify to the efforts and achievements made in improving public health of many communities around the region, but in spite of the progress made health inequities across and within countries continue to be unbearably high.
We believe that only public health interventions that successfully mobilise both government health systems and civil society will be able to reach the poorest of the poor and bring sustainable public health improvements that can narrow the growing equity gap. European Red Cross Red Crescent Societies have much to offer in this respect.
As an independent auxiliary to public health authorities, national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies bring to the table large volunteer networks, a well respected emblem and the proven ability to mobilise our volunteers and bring additional resources to the community level.
As a neutral, impartial and trusted humanitarian organisation the Red Cross and Red Crescent can help bridge the gap between the formal health system and the vulnerable community. This is a significant addition to the mandate and the technical capacity that Ministries, WHO and others have.
In the fight against Tuberculosis, Red Cross Red Crescent may contribute to work already done by WHO, National Health Authorities and other agencies by raising awareness of TB in the general population, by providing social support, care and treatment supervision (like that in DOTS) to the most vulnerable TB patients and thus greatly reduce drop-out rates. In some areas the Red Cross may also help strengthening ties between civil and penal sectors of TB services to improve living conditions in over crowded prisons and guarantee access to TB treatment for prisoners.
Some parts of the European Continent are experiencing the fastest growing rate of HIV/AIDS in the world. The added value the Red Cross may provide in the public health measures already being taken by authorities and others include acting against Stigma and discrimination of People Living with HIV/AIDS and advocating for and implementing harm reduction strategies that include outreach to intravenous drug users, access to clean injection material and substitute drug programmes.
Migration has placed large numbers of people in special jeopardy: they live in the shadow of illegality excluded from health care access by definitions, which discriminate against them. This issue like those of TB, HIV/AIDS and others do not have easy solutions. All of them imply engaging hard to reach vulnerable groups. It is in doing this that civil society partners like the Red Cross Red Crescent may be able to do things that official governments systems may not be able to do and where partnering with civic society may prove most useful and cost-effective like it has already been proven when it comes to provision of health in many emergency situations.
Chair,
When revising the revised European Social Charter and those policies that support health protection, health promotion and health care, I feel it is relevant to refer to the importance of cooperation between public health authorities and civic society both in order to join resources, but also to be able to reach the most vulnerable that are often the most difficult to access.
And let me reassure you that wherever Ministries of Health and UN organisations are willing to team up with Red Cross Red Crescent you will see thousands of volunteers advocating fighting discrimination and stigmatisation reaching out to asylum seekers, refugees and homeless people fighting their disease and helping them decrease their vulnerability and improve health.
However, it is our firm belief that reaching the poorest and narrowing the equity gap can only be done by joint action involving governments, their Red Cross partners and all others involved, especially at the community level.