World leaders with such disparate world views as Hugo Chavez, Saddam Hussein, Tony Blair, Fidel Castro, and Jacques Chirac all support Universal Healthcare; why is the U.S. the only developed country without some for of universal healthcare services? How do the “War on Terror,” Hurricane Katrina, and the pending Immigration Legislation effect our health as a nation? What are the effects of the globalization of public health on access to essential care?

Join The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council and the Neighborhood Writing Alliance for a provocative discussion about these and other issues. The conversation will be lead by:

• Richard Sewell, Executive Director of Health Equity at the University of Illinois School of Public Health (moderator)
  
• Quentin Young, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group
  
• Ida Hellander, Physicians for a National Healthcare
  
  Geraldine Gorman, UIC College of Nursing
  

This event is part of Health as a Human Right: A Series of Community Conversations, co-organized by The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council and the Neighborhood Writing Alliance on public health and access to healthcare. We will consider not only the challenges of an inadequate healthcare system, but also the way in which issues such as geography, demographic inequalities, food distribution, sexuality, adolescent access to healthcare, and the strains of war can and should inform our larger picture of public health.

Co-sponsors include: Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, Co-op Humboldt Park, Chicago Labor and Arts Fest, Chicago Women’s AIDS Project, AREA Chicago, Garfield Park Conservatory, The HotHouse, DuSable Museum, the Nathalie P. Voorhees Neighborhood Center, Physicians for a National Health Plan, Fredrick Blum Neighborhood Assistance Center, Campaign for Better Health Care, Center for Neighborhood Technology, and Access Living.

As part of Chicago Public Radio’s new program, Chicago Amplified, a recording of this event can be listened to or downloaded.