Reclaiming
comprehensive
public health

A CALL TO ACTION for equitable and effective covid-19 responses

JOIN THE CALL TO ACTION

The Call to Reclaim Comprehensive Public Health responds to concerns and missed opportunities in pandemic responses. It calls on heads of state and government, and others involved in shaping the response to COVID-19, to adopt a set of ten principles and approaches to provide inclusive, just, equitable and effective public health approaches in countering COVID-19 and future pandemics.

relcaiming comprehensive public health: a 10-point call to action

As the world has responded to the COVID-19, it has revealed long-standing tensions between biosecurity- and biomedical-focused approaches to public health and those that address social determinants, facilitate participation and protect human rights. This call responds to a concern that certain pandemic responses in countries and at global level have failed to prioritise knowledge, equity and rights, and to learning from the positive impacts of proactive, co-operative, participatory, rights-based and evidence-informed public health responses.

In response, some members of the Reclaiming Comprehensive Public Health Group published a commentary in the BMJ Global Health outlining these concerns and positive experiences and calling for ‘a comprehensive, social determinant, participatory and justice-driven public health, in different regions and countries and globally'. The Reclaiming Comprehensive Public Health Group subsequently convened people from a range of countries, sectors, constituencies and disciplines involved in public health to prepare a Call to Action on heads of state and government and others involved in shaping the response to COVID-19.

We invite all involved in health and pandemic responses to read the Call, and if you support the principles, to sign it (personally and/or institutionally) and engage others. For any questions, please email RCPHcall@gmail.com.

The Call sets out 10 essential principles for a comprehensive approach to countering current and future pandemics.  These key points are outlined below, or follow the link to access the full text of the relevant clause.  The Call can also be viewed in a variety of languages on this page.

Show your support by adding your name to the list of public signatories or signing on behalf of your organisation. Below is the list of signatures from the public since the publication of the call. For any questions, please email RCPHcall@gmail.com.

JOIN THE CALL TO ACTION
Individual signatories

Elaine Rossi

Associate Director, Senior Advisor, JSI

Dr Ellen Rosskam

Principal, ER Global Consult, Geneva
Switzerland

Dr Simon Rushton

Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield
UK

Dr Emma Sacks

Health Systems Program, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
USA

Dr Ximena Ramos Salas

Director of Research & Policy, Obesity Canada
Canada

Prof David Sanderson

Professor, inaugural Judith Neilson Chair in Architecture, UNSW
Australia

Prof Helen Schneider

School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
hschneider@uwc.ac.za

Dr Eric Sarriot

Senior Health Systems Strengthening Advisor, Save the Children
USA

Ms Ingrid Schoeman

Operational Manager at TB Proof. XDR-TB Survivor & TB advocate
South Africa

Marianne Schürmann

hera – right to health & development
Belguim

Mr Colin Scott

Global Mission Partners, Director Churches of Christ Overseas Aid
Australia

Dr Kerry Scott

Canada

Dr Holly Seale

Senior Lecture, School of Population Health, University of New South Wales
Australia

Dr Geordan Shannon

Director, MSc Global Health and Development, Institute for Global Health, University College London
UK

Ms Sarah Simpson

Independent consultant
Global

Adjunct Associate Professor Freddy Sitas

School of Population Health, University of New South Wales and School of Public Health, University of Sydney
Australia

Dr Mieke Snijder

Institute of Development Studies
UK

Werner Soors

Institute of Tropical Medicine, Department of Public Health, Antwerp
Belguim

Prof Katherine Sorsdahl

co-director, Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, University of Cape Town
South Africa

Dr Julian Stern

Consultant Psychiatrit, Tavistock Centre, London
UK

Mr Prasanth Karimpanakkal Subrahmanian

Senior Consultant (Public Health Administration), National Health Systems Resource Centre
India

Dr Nayani Suriyarachchi

FAIRMED Foundation
Sri Lanka

Felipe Szazbzon

Researcher, The Brazilian Centre for Analisys and Planning (CEBRAP) and Psychyatric Epidemiology Group (NEP/IpQ FMUSP)
Brazil

Dr Moses Tetui

Senior Research Fellow, Department of Health Policy Planning and Management, Makerere University
Uganda

Prof Sally Theobald

Professor in Social Science and International Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
UK

Dr Si Thura

Executive Director, Myanmar/US/Bangladesh, Community Partners International (CPI)

Dr Jamie Uhrig

USA

Dr Bart Vander Plaetse

Deputy Director FAIRMED
Switzerland

Dr Gilles Van Cutsem

Médecins Sans Frontières, Southern Africa Medical Unit
South Africa

Prof Wim Van Damme

Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp
Belgium

Jef Vanhamel

Sexual & Reproductive Health Group, Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp
Belgium

Dr Godelieve Van Heteren

Senior health systems, governance and PBF expert, WHO Health Systems Governance Collaborative
The Netherlands

Dr André J van Rensburg

Senior Researcher, Centre for Rural Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal
South Africa

José Ricardo Navarro Vargas

Profesor Titular, Decano, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Colombia

Prof Yousuf A Vawda

Senior Research Associate, School of Law, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
South Africa

Dr Owain Williams

POLIS, University of Leeds
UK

Dr Arne von Delft

TB Epidemiologist and Activist, University of Cape Town, TB Proof & PHACT
South Africa

Prof Sophie Witter

Institute of Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
UK

Dr Aryati Yashadhana

Centre for Health Equity Training Research & Evaluation (CHETRE)
Australia

M/s Kristine Yakhama

Good Health Community Programmes
Kenya

Mark Zira

Ms Idah Zulu

Senior Nursing Officer Public Health, Lusaka District Health Office
Zambia

Prof Anthony Zwi

School of Social Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney
Australia

Dr Morris Zwi

Psychiatrist
UK
Institutional signatories

School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town

South Africa

School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town

South Africa

Sensoa

Belguim

Society for Conservation and Sustainability of Energy and Environment in Nigeria (SOCSEEN)

Nigeria

Sophiatown Community Psychological Services, Johannesburg

South Africa

SudaHealth Talks

Sudan

Swasti

India

Swedish Instiute for Global Health Transformation (SIGHT)

Sweden

The George Institute for Global Health

UK, Global

The Learning Network for Health and Human Rights, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town

South Africa

The Newborn Foundation (and Research Collaborative)

USA

Todos Frente al Chagas /Chagas Disease Alliance

Argentina

UK Working Group on NCDs

UK

Ukana West 2 Community Based Health Initiative

Nigeria

Union des Amis Socio Culturels d Action en Developpement (UNASCAD)

Haiti

VIKASH-SAMUKHYA

India

VillageReach

Malawi

Viva Salud

Belguim

Wemos

The Netherlands

Women Protection Organisation (WOPO)

Nigeria

Women for Fair Development (WOFAD)

Malawi

Xubera institute

South Africa

YOUTH INITIATIVE FOR THE PROMOTION OF GOOD LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA

Nigeria

Zimbabwe Young Academy of Sciences

Zimbabwe

hera (Right to health and development)

Belguim

medico international

Germany

Show your support for the Call and encourage others to sign on by sharing it on social media.
A tweet sheet with suggested posts and accompanying infographics can be found here.

Below can find the 10 key components of the call, which can be downloaded or shared directly to twitter.

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Reclaiming
comprehensive
public health

A CALL TO ACTION for equitable and effective covid-19 responses

JOIN THE CALL TO ACTION

THE Reclaiming comprehensive public health group

The Reclaiming Comprehensive Public Health Group involves people from diverse regions, areas of work and disciplines. It was initially drawn from discussions in the Health Systems Global SHAPES technical working group on promoting a comprehensive public health approach in responses to COVID-19. It has since expanded to include those involved in related health processes, such as the EQUINET-coordinated work on community engagement in responses to COVID-19. Different group members have contributed to various outputs, including the Call. The discussion in the Group on advancing a comprehensive public health response continues.

Thanks to those involved in producing the call to action, which includes:

Kirsten Accoe, MPH, Scientific Expert, Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium

Wilson Damien Asibu, Executive Director, Country Minders for People's Development, Malawi

Sharon Attipoe-Dorcoo, Ph.D., MPH, Co-Principal, TERSHA LLC, USA

Dina Balabanova, Associate Professor in Health Systems/Policy, Department of Global Health & Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Gerald Bloom, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, United Kingdom

Kent Buse, Director, Healthier Societies Program, The George Institute for Global Health, Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Hawa Camara, MPH, CHES, Implementation Science Researcher, PhD candidate, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Sayan Das, Research scholar, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

Thilagawathi Abi Deivanayagam, Specialist Registrar in Public Health, University of Liverpool, UK

Nicholas A. Hooton, MA, MSc, VetMB, Research Uptake Advisor, Abergavenny, UK.

Natasha Howard, Associate Professor National University of Singapore Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Singapore.

André Janse van Rensburg, Senior Researcher, Centre for Rural Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

Barbara Kaim, Programme Manager, Training and Research Support Centre, Zimbabwe

Rene Loewenson, Director, Training and Research Support Centre, Zimbabwe

Julia Lohmann, Assistant Professor, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK

Leslie London, Professor of Public Health Medicine, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Hayley MacGregor, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

Marsha Orgill, Senior Research Officer, Health Policy and Systems Division, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Nitin Bajpai, MPH,  Research Manager, Health Division, Sarvodaya Gram Udyog Seva Sansthan, India

Masuma Mamdani, Independent Public Health Consultant, London, UK

Kaaren Mathias, Director - Burans community mental health, Herbertpur Christian Hospital, India and Public Health Physician, Canterbury District Health Board, NZ

Claudio A. Méndez, MPH, director and associate professor of health policy, Instituto de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

Tolib Mirzoev, Professor of International Health Policy and Systems, Health of Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development, University of Leeds, UK

Devaki Nambiar, Program Head, George Institute for Global Health, India

Erica Nelson, Research Fellow, Centre of History in Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, England; Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, England

Ateeb Ahmad Parray, MPH, Fellow, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Elisabeth Paul, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

Stefan Swartling Peterson, Professor of Global Health, Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden and Makerere University, Uganda

Bridget Pratt, Senior Research Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia

Ari Probandari, Professor of Public Health, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia

Eric Sarriot, Sr Health Systems Strengthening Advisor, Save the Children, Washington DC. USA [formerly]

Prashanth N Srinivas, Faculty & DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Fellow, Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, India

Felipe Szabzon, Brazilian Centre for Analysis and Planning CEBRAP, Citizenship, Health and Development Team, São Paulo, Brazil

Stephanie Topp, Associate Professor of Global Health and Development, College of Public Health Medicine and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University.

Godelieve Van Heteren,  MB/MD, Sr. International health and health systems, governance and PBF Advisor, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Keshri Vikash R, Senior Research Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health, New Delhi, India

Sophie Witter, Professor of International Health Financing and Health Systems, Institute of Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK

Anthony Zwi, Professor of Global Health and Development, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

The hosting of the Call via Healthy Societies does not imply any direct relationship between the RCPH and Healthy Societies, or endorsement by or liability of the RCPH group for other content or functions on the Healthy Societies site.

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