Fund Healthcare Not Warfare

Second Annual Forum

The tragic death toll from the COVID-9 pandemic reveled the deep malfunctions of the nation’s healthcare system.  One of the sources, inadequately reported, has been the diversion of our tax dollars to military programs and foreign wars – over half of Congressional discretionary funding. Critical  budgets needed to protect the health and safety of our people – for the NIH, CDC, NSF, Food Stamps, Housing, Veteran’s Administration and other core civilian programs – have been limited in order to feed Pentagon programs. This Conference will explore  the reality that funding these critical programs at the needed levels will require political mobilization and cutting Pentagon accounts.

2:00 pm Welcome: Jonathan King (FHCNW).

2:05 – Congressional Discretionary Budget – Chair: Carol Doherty (MA State Legislature)

– Military Programs in the Congressional Discretionary Budget- Lindsay Koshgarian  (Institute for Policy Studies);

– Civilian Programs in the Congressional Discretionary Budget – Deborah Weinstein (Coalition for Human Needs);

– A Moral Budget that Lifts from the Bottom – Shailly Gupta Barnes (Kairos Center and Poor People’s  Campaign).

2:45pm – Nurses Fighting Back and Moving forward: (Chair, Sandy Eaton (Mass CARE))

– Optimizing Care, Limiting corporate profit-taking- Katie Murphy (Pres.  Mass Nurses Assn).

– Veterans Hospitals – Suzanne Gordon (Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute);

– National priorities – Deborah Burger (National Nurses United).

3: 30 Increased Pandemic Preparedness

Increasing Vaccine Access – Natalia Linos (Harvard School of Public Health)

American Health Assn. Priorities – Chris Chanyasulkit (Pres, APHA)

Keynote: – Ayanna Pressley (US Representative 7th district) (Invited)

4:05 Breakouts (See List Below)

4:45 Expanding Health Care (Chair Dr. Alan Meyers)

– State Initiatives including SAPHE –Bonnie Gorman (Veterans for Peace)

– Medicare for All/Single Payer – Adam Gafney (PHNP)

– A National Health Service – Stephanie Woolhandler (CUNY)

– Influencing the 2024 Elections – Larry Cohen (national chair Our Revolution).

5:30 Adjourn

Breakouts

1. Advocating within the American Public Health Association  –  Anlan Cheney (APHA Peace Caucus); Chris Chanyasulkit (Pres., APHA).
2. Coupling of Disease, Wars, and War Budgets – Dr. Barry Levy (APHA); Luissa Vahedi (Wash U Med School); Alexander Blum (Johns Hopkins); Susan Awor (UC Berkeley).
3.  Coupling of Racism and Militarism – Rosemary Kean (Mass Peace Action), Keith Harvey (AFSC); Angelia Jefferson (National Council Incarcerated Women).
4. Cutting Budgets for Nuclear Weapons Upgrades – David Borris (Chicago Area Peace Action); Richard Krushnic (Mass Peace Action); John Bach (Cambridge Quakers); Timmon Wallis (Nuclear Ban, US); Dr. Gwen DuBois (Chesapeake Bay PSR).
5. Electoral and Voting Rights Initiatives– Cole Harrison (Mass Peace Action);  Martha Karcere (Our Revolution, MA).
6. Expanding Vaccine Access -Jonathan King (MIT); Natalia Linos (HSPH); Ben Levenson (Justice is Global ); Bill Walczak (former ED Codman Sq. Health Center); (Quinton Zondervan (Cambridge City Council).
7. Housing and Health – Lady Lawrence, Ameina Moseley, Melissa Jones (Housing = Health); Rep. Mike Connolly (MA State Legislature); Savina Martin (MA Poor Peoples Campaign).-
8. Impacts of Climate Change on Immigration and Health – Rev. Vernon Walker (Communities Responding to Extreme Weather);
9. Mental Health Needs – Susan Mirsky (Mass Peace Action).
10. Reducing Gun Violence – Rev. Bob Moore (Coalition for Peace Action); Prof. Geraldine Gorman (Univ. of Illinois Chicago);
11. State Legislative Initiatives – Bonnie Gorman (Veterans for Peace); Dr. Alan Meyers PNHP); Sen. Liz Miranda (MA State Legislature).
12. Women’s Health Justice – Catherine DeLorey (MPHA); Beth Sommers (APHA).;

(Program Committee: Catherine DeLorey, MPH; Francis Sandy Eaton, RN; Bonnie Gorman, RN; Cate Henning;  Prof. Jonathan King; Susan Mirsky;  Alan Meyers, MD).

Fund Healthcare Not Warfare Forum

The tragic death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic reveled the deep malfunctions of the nation’s healthcare system.  One of the sources, inadequately reported, has been the diversion of our tax dollars to military programs and foreign wars – over half of Congressional discretionary funding. Critical  budgets needed to protect the health and safety of our people – for the NIH, CDC, NSF, Food Stamps, Housing, Veteran’s Administration and other core civilian programs – have been limited in order to feed Pentagon programs. This Forum will explore  the reality that funding these critical programs at the needed levels will require political mobilization and cutting Pentagon accounts.

Register

Sunday, June 11, 2023 @ 2:00 PM

Online