Statement on health equity

Statement on health equity by the civil society organization on the occasion of the
77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
September 2022
We, representatives of the civil society movements concerned with global health and equity, call upon all
government leaders and officials, multilateral organizations, civil society, academia, and the private sector to
support the establishment of an international agreement to respond to the ongoing global crisis of unconscionable
global and national health inequities, including the effects of climate change. Such an agreement should be
grounded in the right to health and core principles like accountability, participation, and equity itself
while catalysing enhanced action on the social, environmental, and other determinants of health.
Such an agreement, which would accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development while
establishing a human rights – and equity – based framework, could begin to be negotiated even as governments
negotiate a pandemic treaty or other international agreement. The pandemic agreement must itself prioritize equity
and the right to health and the universal access to health care, ensuring that people receive equal access to vaccines
and other countermeasures, no matter where they live.
Meanwhile, we commit ourselves to collaborate in the discussions on both the pandemic agreement and a broader
agreement on the right to health and equity, and in their implementation, monitoring, and accountability
mechanisms. We further commit to work with WHO and other partners on additional legal tools and actions that
they can take to advance health equity and urge that they turn to the Sustainable Health Equity Movement and
our organizations in their efforts.
1. Sustainable Health Equity Movement – SHEM
2. World Federation of Public Health Associations –
WFPHA
3. International Association of National Public
Health Institutes – IANPHI
4. Latin American Alliance for Global Health –
ALASAG
5. Academia Nacional de Medicina (Argentina)
6. Planetary Health Alliance – PHA
7. Global Young Academy – GYA
8. Framework Convention on Global Health
Alliance – FCGH
9. People’s Health Movement – PHM
10. Health Equity Network of the Americas – HENA
11. World Federation of Critical Care Nurses –
WFCCN
12. World Health Network – WHN
13. SAMRC Centre for Health Economics and
Decision Science-PRICELESS SA
14. InterAcademy Partnership – IAP
15. Frente Nacional por la Salud de los Pueblos del
Ecuador – FNSPE
16. Bangladesh Health Watch – BHW
17. World Medical Association – WMA
18. Research Center for Population and Health
Policy (United States)
19. Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA) – CSOs
Coalition Network) Think-tank
20. Center for Women’s Health and Human Rights,
Suffolk University
21. Action for Humane Hospitals (Cameroon)
22. CONICET – UNAJ – Hosp El Cruce N. Kirchner
(Argentina)
23. Academia Ecuatoriana de Ciencias de la
Ingenieria (Ecuador)
24. Fundación Plenitud (Dominican Republic)
25. Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
26. Plataforma ciudadana para la formulación de
políticas públicas en Salud y Derechos Humanos
(Peru)
27. FORO SALUD (Peru)
28. European Forum for Primary Care (The
Netherlands)
29. Society for International Development (SID)
(Italy)
30. Viva Salud (Belgium)
31. Medicina Democratica Onlus (Italy)
32. Sightsavers (United Kingdom)