In a two day visit to PAHO headquarters in Washington, DC, 4-5 October 2010, Dr. Ravi Narayan—the Community Health Advisor of the Society for Community Health Awareness, Research and Action, (SOCHARA) Bangalore, India—met with PAHO management and experts, and presented some of the work of his Society towards the achievement of the goal of Health for All.
In a two day visit to PAHO headquarters in Washington, DC, 4-5 October 2010, Dr. Ravi Narayan—the Community Health Advisor of the Society for Community Health Awareness, Research and Action, (SOCHARA) Bangalore, India—met with PAHO management and experts, and presented some of the work of his Society towards the achievement of the goal of Health for All.
Dr. Narayan is a former faculty member of St. John's Medical College in Bangalore, run by the Catholic Bishop's Conference of India. He was also the overseas lecturer of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine until 1983. In 1984 he coinitated SOCHARA with colleagues to work towards a community health network in India inspired by the Alma Ata Declaration and the society has pioneered a social/community paradigm in health, bringing together a large number of associations, networks and movements to evolve the people's health movement in India.
Dr. Narayan's main interests includes the community paradigm in health and the evolution of health as a social movement. His presentation at PAHO covered an overview of these initiatives and identified some challenges in making our Primary Health Care and Public Health Systems responsive to and inclusive of plural health traditions. Some of the topics covered were:
- Primary Health Care and Community Participation: SOCHARA activities, significant initiatives and achievements
- Globalization of Health Solidarity from Below (The People's Health movement) and the evolution of the Global's People's Health Charter and the People's Health Movement circles all over the World.
- Traditional Systems of Health Care and Public Health (Building Bridges)
From the left: Dr. Ravi Narayan, PAHO Assistant Director Dr. Socorro Gross and Dr. José Luis Di Fabio, Area Manager for Health Systems Based on Primary Health Care, PAHO. (Photos: Sonia Mey-Schmidt, PAHO/WHO)
For more information please contact Paulo Leite, Knowledge Management and Communication Area, tel (202) 974-3035, fax (202) 974-3143.
