The members of the International Health Cooperatives Organisation, the IHCO, held their general assembly in Antalya, Turkey on 8 November. The President, Dr José Carlos Guisado, emphasised the important positive impact of health cooperatives beyond their members. “In many countries, the health care provided by cooperatives delivers access to health services on the part of numerous citizens who would otherwise receive no such provision,” stated Dr Guisado.
In his report, the President emphasised the Social needs, cooperative answers campaign, developed jointly with the International Organisation of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Cooperatives, CICOPA. The campaign, born out of the collaboration agreement signed by the two organisations in 2013, aims to emphasise that cooperatives are the most important expression of the needs and aspirations of citizens in the form of an enterprise, naturally emerging to provide solutions tailored to the needs of the general public in the fields of health, education, housing, the environment, social services and occupational integration.
The assembly likewise focused on the projects to be developed in 2016, and in particular participation at the Health Forum of the International Summit of Cooperatives in Québec, which will be held in October next year.
Other projects being considered by the organisation for the future involve the strengthening of its communication strategy and visibility, the design of a global campaign to raise popular awareness of cardiovascular risks and the development of a study into the impact on health care achieved by health cooperatives worldwide.