Medact
 | |
| Founded | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Type | Charity for health professionals |
| Location |
|
Area served | Worldwide |
| Members | 1500 |
| Website | medact.org |
Medact is an organisation for and of health professionals such as doctors, nurses, therapists, psychologists, academics and other professional groups working in the health sector. But it also works in collaboration with lawyers, economists philosophers, social scientists and others working to improve health worldwide.
Medact's core purpose is to educate and inform the wider health community on the issues it works on; and to lobby and campaign for change. But with these sets of activities are based on an analysis of data and evidence and the construction of sound argument for positive change and alternative solutions, as well as explicit values and principles.
Medact works with other professional organisations in the UK such as the BMA, the Royal Colleges, the Royal Society of Medicine, relevant university faculties an public health departments to support the wider health community to be more effective social change agents.
Medact's recent actions
Medact's history
Medact grew out of the medical peace movement of the 1950s and 1960s and was formed from the merger of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW) a,d the Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (MCANW). Members protested against the British replacement of the Trident system.<
Medact is affiliated to International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.ref>http://www.medact.org/wmd_nuclear.php</ref>
Medact's previous work
Medact has been tracking the health impact of the war in Iraq.[1] They have issued a three reports and two shorter 'updates', have defended the Lancet surveys of casualties of the Iraq War and, as part of the Count the Casualties campaign have called for an independent investigation into increased mortality in Iraq.[2]
Medact has produced reports documenting the phenomenon of health worker migration from less economically developed nations to rich countries, which they describe as a "perverse subsidy".[3]
Medact also work on the health of refugees in the UK, in particular documenting and challenging barriers to healthcare.
Medact have been involved in the Global Health Watch, a civil society project aiming to produce alternative versions of the World Health Organisation's annual World Health Report.[4]
See also
- Quakers
- Médecins Sans Frontières
- Campaign Against Arms Trade
- Saferworld
- International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
- British Medical Association
- Royal Society of Medicine