Sybil Hyppolite a current HSPH student gets marchers fired up
at Monday's Health Care Reform Rally in Philadelphia, PA
On Monday, November 10, a throng of marchers left from the 137th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association at the Philadelphia Convention Center and headed to CIGNA headquarters to promote keeping the public option in health care reform.
I had the opportunity to interview the organizers after the rally to hear how it went (it was over email). Below is our Q&A. If you'd like to view some of the rally videos, you can visit YouTube.
Q. Who organized the rally?
A. Public Health Practitioners for Reform, a group of students at HSPH who were inspired and challenged by Marshall Ganz when he came to speak at an event here at school. We believe in health care for all and we support the public option as a first step to improving access. Key organizers included Aaron Holman, MS2 HPM, Sybill Hyppolite, MS2 SHDH, Michelle Lugalia, MS2 SHDH, Lindsay Schubiner, MS2 SHDH, Mark Brewster MS2 SHDH, and Tim Cunningham ScD SHDH, among many others. We received invaluable support from organizations such as the Health Policy Forum at HSPH, Health Care for America NOW! (HCAN), American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees (AFCSME), and several members of the American Public Health Association (APHA).
Q. Why did you think this was important to do now, at APHA?
A. Public health practitioners have an enormous stake in guaranteeing access to health care for as many people as possible, and we occupy a unique position as experts in the field. It is essential that we make our voices heard at this crucial moment in the legislative process. For the first time in 60 years, legislation around health care reform in Congress has progressed further than before. The level of cooperation between our legislators around this issue is also unprecedented. We are witnessing history in the making and we want our voices and our demands to count. As public health students, our voices have been missing from the debate and we felt we could not passively watch this moment pass by. We felt the need to step up and get involved. We chose to organize the demonstration at the APHA Annual Meeting because of its nation-wide membership and its timing, as well as its symbolic relevance to the debate.
Q. How did the event go?
A. It went very well! Some of us have not been this intimately involved in organizing and so we were learning as we were planning. We wanted to engage APHA members as much as possible, to get attention from the press, and we wanted it to be a meaningful experience for all the marchers. We met all of our expectations! We attracted two media sources, engaged respected members of APHA, had close to 100 people join us, and recruited great and diverse speakers to address the crowd. The group was energized during the event and several attendees thanked us for organizing the effort.
Q. What are you planning to do next?
A. PHPR is determined to stay active in this issue. We are planning our next steps in light of the status of the bill and the President's desired deadline: Christmas 2009. Important aspects of the House bill, for example concerning reproductive rights, were cut from the version that passed, and even if the current bill makes it through the Senate without further cuts, it still fails to guarantee health care coverage for all. We already know that this bill, as it stands, leaves us short of where we need to be. Follow us on Facebook to get involved in our future activities. We want health care for all and we want it now!
