General Information about LSV activities - in English
The aim of the organisation is to increase the medical profession’s understanding of the factors that affect the social rights and health and environmental security of human communities. It encourages them to act with regard to the prevention of war and the promotion of healthy environments and equity at the global level. The association is not bound to any political party or view.
2§ in constitution of PSR-Finland
Background
Lääkärin sosiaalinen vastuu, or Physicians for Social Responsibility - Finland (PSR-Finland) is a registered association founded in 1982 whose membership consists of medical doctors, dentists, and students of these professions. The aims of the association are to promote a better understanding on the part of the medical community of the ethical and social questions which concern the whole of humankind, and by its own actions strive to help solve important global problems. Questions of major importance for the association include the promotion and maintenance of safe living environments, equity and peace.
Organisation
The association is governed by the annually chosen executive board. The activities of the association have been divided into four themes: 1. War and peace, 2. Development cooperation, 3. Protection of environment and 4. Ethical and social issues. The association organises seminars, produces publications, takes part in social debate in Finland and internationally, and practices development cooperation. Since 1996 PSR-Finland has also been the Finnish affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).
Activities
Organisational activities take place through independent workgroups on different projects, enabling members to work on the issues they are most interested in. Additional local groups exist in some areas. PSR-Finland has about 900 members, most of whom are medical doctors. In recent years specific attention has been paid to making the association more accessible to students, and as a result a new generation of students has become involved..
PSR-Finland publishes an information bulletin four times a year and also produces publications on specific issues. Activities are financed by membership fees, but its work in the field of peace education has been supported by the Ministry of Education, and in the field of development cooperation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs respectively. Additionally, some funding for development cooperation activities has been acquired through donations and fund-raising activities, and for development education from the European Commission (DGVIII).
BackWar and Peace
During its early years the most important activities of the association were those related to the prevention of nuclear war. Peace education and the promotion of conflict resolution have formed one part of this work. The end of cold war meant significant changes in the international context and in the possibilities for the prevention of nuclear war, but many important problems with nuclear arms remain, especially regarding the trade and smuggling of nuclear arms and the environmental impact of weapons production and maintenance. The importance of war and peace issues has grown in the 1990s as PSR-Finland took on the duties of the Finnish section of Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and became the Finnish affiliate of IPPNW.
A large share of IPPNW activities in Finland has focused on nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. PSR-Finland plays an active role in the regional and global conferences organised by the IPPNW and in 1984 hosted, with the Finnish IPPNW group, the IPPNW international conference, which was held in Helsinki. PSR-Finland will also host the coming 2006 IPPNW international conference in Helsinki. The Abolition 2000 project which is aiming for a global treaty on the destruction of nuclear arms by the year 2000, has been one of the major activities in PSR-Finland.
PSR-Finland activities have been focused on organising seminars, discussions amongst the medical profession and on working and joint-lobbying with other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who work on peace issues in Finland and internationally. In addition, PSR-Finland has edited, translated and produced publications on these issues, such as the consequences of nuclear war and biological warfare, and it is currently editing a major publication on War and Health, which will deal with a broad array of health questions linked with conflict.
BackDevelopment issues
Development cooperation has been the most visible part of PSR-Finland activities, and in this field PRSF has underaken practical development cooperation activities. Special attention has also been drawn to development education and the organisation has taken part in development policy discussions in Finland and also internationally at the UN Conferences and Summits.
PSR-Finland, in collaboration with Wemos in the Netherlands and MEDACT in the United Kingdom, is currently receiving a grant for development education from the European Commission (DGVIII) to develop its work promoting understanding of the impact of economic policies on health.
The basic aim of PSR-Finland development cooperation programmes has been to challenge the inequities both between North and South as well as within countries and between genders. The editing of the textbook "Health and Disease in Developing Countries" has been its largest development education project. It has been distributed to many nongovernmental organisations working in developing countries. In addition, PSR-Finland has organised seminars and lectures on development issues and also organised sessions on development subjects at the annual meetings of the Finnish Medical Association.
The largest development cooperation partner has been Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK), a Bangladeshi nongovernmental organisation. Ten years of collaboration have included work on educational projects, the building of laboratory for vaccines and mutual sharing of know-how. The vaccine laboratory is now ready and PSR-Finland is helping to start its activities. In addition, PSR-Finland tries to support the GK project providing medical education appropriate to the local needs.
In Peru, PSR-Finland has been involved in a primary health care improvement project in Pacasmayo with special reference to maternity and child health services. The project was continued by local people, but the plague epidemic in San Bernandino provided reasons for additional support to another smaller primary health care project in Peru. A project for educating health promotors in San Bernardino and Chicama has recently been finished. Currently, PSR-Finland is working on a sexual education project in Trujillo, which is identical to an earlier one organised in Tembladera.
Funding for development cooperation has been acquired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which supports the development education and cooperation projects of Finnish NGOs. The 25% share of PSR-Finland has been collected through membership fees, voluntary work and through different fund-raising activities.
Health Action International
The HAI-group in PSR-Finland is the Finnish affiliate of Health Action International. It collects and distributes information on pharmaceuticals, unethical pharmaceutical marketing practices and on pharmaceutical policies with respect to both developed and developing countries. The activities of the HAI group include research and education work, publications, consulting, expert advice and communications/media work. In addition the group has organised seminars on pharmaceutical issues concerning for example drug donations and essential drug policies in developing countries (together with the Service Centre for Development Cooperation), and concerning the rapidly increasing use of new anti-depressive drugs. The group has taken part actively in the European regional activities of HAI.
Partners
The most important partners in the development cooperation field are the Service Centre for Development Cooperation (SCDC, the development NGO umbrella organisation in Finland), the working group for development cooperation in the Finnish Medical Association and HEDEC (Unit for Health and Development Cooperation at the National Development Centre for Welfare and Health). PSR-Finland has organised seminars with SCDC and has also been involved in the World Bank coordination group in SCDC taking special responsibility for health issues. In order to increase the possibilities for influencing development cooperation projects and consultant-training, PSR-Finland has established a separate consulting agency (PSR Consulting). PSR Consulting has made an agreement with HEDEC to provide administrative services for a health care development project in Namibia.
BackEnvironmental issues
Environmental questions, ranging from local level issues to global climate change, are seen as an important part of PSR-Finland’s activities. In practice much of the PSR-Finland work has focused on the health effects of traffic and nuclear waste.
In 1991 PSR-Finland produced a path-breaking book called "Car, Environment and Health" discussing the links between traffic policies and health. PSR-Finland has also been involved in lobbying on traffic issues at the national level and played a part in debates on traffic policies.
PSR-Finland has been collaborating with Russian researchers and activists working on the health and environmental impact of the Chelyabinsk nuclear waste plant. Chelyabinsk has been the end point of nuclear waste from Finnish nuclear power plants, which has made the site more important for PSR-Finland. PSR-Finland has supported additional education for local doctors and collected material on the issue for local use.
Anti-smoking activities
PSR-Finland works together with Finnish ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) to lower the incidence of smoking in Finland. PSR-Finland has traditionally held a lecture against smoking in the shareholder meeting of the AMER tobacco company. PSR-Finland has also distributed publications linked to the first court case on smoking induced cancer in Finland and in relation to other aspects of smoking policies.
BackEthical and social questions
PSR-Finland has started discussions and dialogue on medical ethics and problems in medical practice. It has organised seminars on for example practice in primary health care and social responsibility in Finnish health care. At the moment economic constrainsts with respect to health care policies and decisions in health care allow space for debate on values and priorities in health care. In addition, PSR-Finland has also organised sessions and action on trade in human organs.
BackMembership and contact information
You can become a member of PSR-Finland by contacting the secretary general. The annual membership fee is 40EUR and 10EUR for students. The fee includes a "membership package" with more information on the organisation and its activities and a set of PSR-Finland publications. Information on specific issues may be best acquired directly from the contact persons for the different projects.
PSR-Finland contact persons:
Chairman
Kati Juva
Minna Canthinkatu 18 A
00250 Helsinki
FINLAND
tel: (home) +358-9-492069
tel: gsm +358-50-5002318
email: katijuva ät katto.kaapeli.fi
Editor of PSR-Finland Bulletin
Contact address for PSR-Finland
PSR-Finland
P.O.box 722
00101 Helsinki
Finland
Secretary General
Back