Health as an essential human need, a right of citizenship, and a public good: health for all is possible and necessary.

This statement to the second World Social Forum, presented in Porto Alegre on January 30, 2002, summarizes the conclusions of the first International Forum for the Defense of the Health of People. The statement denounces macroeconomic adjustment policies and the militarization of international relationships for their devastating effects on people's health and quality of life, and proposes a wide public debate and action on a development model that moves toward equity and promotes health and well-being as a human right and a public good.