“There is magic in the air,” said Amit Sengupta at the conclusion of the first day of the fourth People’s Health Assembly in Bangladesh’s Savar in November 2018. The event was a part of the People’s Health Movement (PHM) – a global network of grassroots health activists, civil society organisations and academic institutions.
Amit was thus alluding to the energy and solidarity of health activists from about 73 countries who had come together to reaffirm the goal of Health for All.
The magic was also a hint at the spirit, energy and strength of the 1,500 people at the Assembly, despite several disruptions by local authorities – a number of participants were detained for lengthy periods at the Dhaka airport and some even deported.
Even the venue of the Assembly had to be moved overnight, but all of this could not deter the magic created by the slogans, songs and solidarity. they excitedly rose to a crescendo – El pueblo unidojamás sera vencido/The people united shall never be defeated/Amandla! Awethu! Awaz do hum ek hai, anek hai!
Amit’s witnessing of ‘magic in the air’ was also at the core of his belief in the strength of the people, of movements and especially of PHM – that he has been closely involved with since its beginning.
Amit was extremely central to contributing to this magic – he had exceptional organisational capabilities and led critical negotiations to ensure that the Assembly took place. He contributed enormously to the shaping of the programme and other aspects of the Assembly – largely working behind the scenes for several months before and during it.
Amit was acutely intelligent, tenacious, committed and uncompromising when it came to the struggle for the health of the people. I recall one instance of his resoluteness with regard to the politics of health and not having in qualms in telling it like it is – this was during the general elections in 2004.
During pre-election days, it was decided that some of us from the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) should meet key representatives of some political parties and encourage them to commit to pro-people and public health policies in their election manifestos. Amit joined me, albeit reluctantly, for one such meeting. We were trying to be polite despite the person’s non-serious approach and his responses regarding some critical issues related to healthcare and the privatisation of the health sector.
Amit was, I noticed, getting increasingly restless. At one point, his phone rang and he clearly – and unapologetically – scoffed, “I am sitting in front of the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and trying to convince him about health rights and primary health care.” The representative was stunned by Amit’s blatant outburst. The meeting ended rather abruptly and it was probably the last of its kind for Amit – except perhaps when it came to meeting representatives of Left parties.
Amit consistently worked on issues related to public health, social determinants of health, drug pricing, access to medicines, patents and intellectual property rights. He believed that ‘health for all’ requires major transformations not only in the area of healthcare but also in a wide range of social determinants of health – food security and nutrition, water supply, sanitation, working conditions, housing, environment, education and other sectors.
He firmly believed that improving these critical social determinants was the only way ‘Health for All’ and a more caring world could be achieved. He was extremely vocal about his opposition to neoliberal policies that promote privatisation, commercialisation of healthcare and corporate-friendly intellectual property regimes. He vehemently opposed universal health coverage as it explicitly concerns itself with ‘coverage’ and not comprehensive healthcare. In fact, the latitude of his understanding and writings was vast, evident from the range of his published articles, which I was collating recently.
Amit and I first met in the nineties when we were actively campaigning against population control policies and invasive contraceptive technologies. He was extremely supportive then and continued to be so. Over the past two decades, I worked with him on several health issues ranging from population policies and contraceptive technologies to access to medicines and the regulation of clinical trials.
When we filed the public interest litigation on the unethical conduct of the Human Papillomavirus vaccine trials, he immediately agreed to extend support and became a co-petitioner – we had immense mutual trust in our politics and respect for each other’s work. We worked closely for nearly two decades as part of the JSA and as a part of the global PHM over the past several years, and more recently towards the PHA 4.
Amit played an important role in the PHM and coordinated the Global Health Governance Initiative and the editorial group of the Global Health Watch, an alternative world health report.
For Amit, the role of the JSA and PHM was significant in a world where critical voices of social movements were increasingly under threat. He understood the importance of building a movement to challenge the structures of inequity and power. Amit’s huge smile after a stressful day of uncertainties at the Assembly in Savar accompanied by “this is what the movement is all about …..not within four walls, out in the open, the spirit, the energy and struggles of the people, celebrating together by singing, sloganeering and dancing,” said it all.
I spoke to him a day before he left for Goa – thereafter we exchanged emails around 10:45 pm, just about 12 hours before I would realise that it would be my last conversation with him.
Amit passed away on November 28, 2018, in a swimming accident in Goa where he had gone for a short vacation with his wife Tripta. As I write this about a month after the tragic incident, I continue to feel a sense of disbelief and immense loss, which will remain with me. But I am also heartened and find strength in his vast legacy of writings, in his emails and messages – many expressions of friendship, support and solidarity.
‘Milte hain….‘ as you would say, my dear friend.
Sarojini Nadimpally is a member of the steering committee of the People’s Health Movement and the national co-convenor of the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan.