IHCO Activities

Local Food Initiatives in Canada
Canadian CCA has compiled a document on national local food initiatives. It shows not only the benefits of locally produced food from a health perspective, but also in terms of economy and environment.
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Nearly 300 delegates met in Rome to discuss and decide on a series of restructuring changes to the ICA Rules. They adopted all recommendations included in the ICA Restructuring Report as proposed and unanimously approved new and amended ICA Rules and By-Laws which include a new subscription and voting system. Members further unanimously elected Mr. Won-Byung Choi of the National Agricultural Co-operative Federation of Korea (NACF) to the ICA Board.

The text of the new ICA Rules and Bye-Laws are now available. See official documentation and texts of presentations made at the Assembly on 5-6 June at: http://www.ica.coop/calendar/ga2008/

Argentinean FAESS invites to its 2nd National Forum for Health Co-operatives, to be held in the Medical Science Faculty in Rosario on the 4-5 of July, 2008.
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The Board of the IHCO held its meeting in Madrid on the 6th of May, preceded by a meeting of the IHCO Europe board the day before. The main issue was do discuss the IHCO’s position as a structural organisation of the ICA before the extra General Assembly in June.
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On the 29th of May, the Minister for Social Development and President of the National Council for the Coordination of Social Politics, Ms. Alicia Kirchner, officially launched the “Latin American Prize of the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo” to the Participative Investigation Action, a UNESCO program aiming at uniting social science research to the construction of social politics.
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IHCO member Jean-Pierre Girard of Canadian Sherbrooke University has, together with the Executive Director of the British Columbia Co-operative Association, written an interesting comparison between the Japanese and the Canadian co-operative health system. The article, that was published in the Making Waves magazine volume 19, is presented in pdf format under the “Publications” menu (Note: only in English).
Read the article>>>

Japanese Reconstruction in Java
A devastating earthquake in May 2006 killed almost 6,000 people and destroyed or damaged up to 400,000 houses in Central Java. As part of the reconstruction process, Japanese HCA-JCCU financed the reconstruction of a health clinic.
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ICA Extraordinary Assembly
The ICA holds an extraordinary General Assembly in Rome, Italy, on 5-6 June 2008. The Assembly is being convened to consider the proposals of the Board towards restructuring ICA. It will provide ICA members the opportunity to discuss proposed changes to the ICA Rules and Standing Orders - including a new subscription formula - and take decisions on further steps to be taken to ensure that ICA is a viable and unified organisation.
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Caption: Dr. Guisado at the round-table with ILO and European Commission representatives.

International co-operation and health care protection

Dr. José C. Guisado, president of IHCO and CEO of the Espriu Foundation, participated in the meeting of the International Cooperation Commission (ICC) of the Association Internationale de la Mutualité held in Brussels on the 11th March.
He also met with Marc-Henry Cornély of Belgian OPHACO.
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7 new co-ops join Argentinean FAESS
Argentinean health co-op FAESS was considerably strengthened during 2007, as seven new co-operatives joined the organization.
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Espriu Foundation joins Social Business Confederation
Spanish health co-operative Espriu Foundation has joined the Spanish Social Business Confederation of Social Economy (CEPES), as the representative for Spain’s health co-operatives.
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First ACYM Meeting
The first meeting of the Co-Operative and Mutual America (ACYM) network was held in Montevideo, Uruguay, in November. IHCO was represented by Dr. Ricardo López, President of Argentinean health co-op FAESS.
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Promoting perfect sleep
British Co-operatives UK assists in a venture to improve sleeping comfort.
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Unimed moves forward
Brazilian health co-operative Unimed has undertaken an important and significant journey over the last years. The organisation has consistently worked with – and refined – the Unimed branding and social responsibility projects.
28-30 of November, 200 marketing and social responsibility managers convened in Mogí das Cruzes, outside São Paulo, to further advance Unimed’s position.
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New Health Co-op in Sherbrooke University
A health co-operative is seeing the light of day for the first time in a university setting. On November 15, some 100 persons participated in the founding meeting of the Coop santé de l’Université de Sherbrooke, coopérative de solidarité.
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Inform us about your health or social co-operative!
The IHCO is presently compiling an international survey on health and social co-operatives.
IHCO member organisations are presently participating in the collecting of data from their respective regions, based on two different questionnaires – one for health and social co-ops, another for health and social co-op associations.

If you have not received/answered our survey questionnaire and read these lines, please find the questionnaires here:

International Health Cooperative Forum in Tokyo:
Today’s Role and Tomorrow’s Challenges

For the 50th anniversary of the Health Cooperative Association of the Japanese Consumer’s Cooperative Union (HCA-JCCU), the organisation hosts an International Health Cooperative Forum entitled “Considering Today’s Role and Tomorrow’s Challenges for Health Cooperatives”.

The forum will focus on different lines of action at a local as well as global level. It will be attended by representatives from the health co-operative movement from 15 countries, as well as by UN agencies, such as ILO, WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA, and from other organisations such as Japan International Cooperation Agency JICA, the World Bank, and Médecines du Monde.

Sunday 21 October
13:00   Opening of Plenary Meeting
13:20   Memorial Lecture by Dr. Tetsu Nakamura (Peshawar-kai)
14:35   Special Report regarding Age-Friendly Project from Dr. Louise Plouffe (WHO)
15:00   Keynote Lecture by Dr. Yasuyuki Takahashi (HCA-JCCU)
15:40 Sectional Meetings:
            1. Health Cooperatives in the World: Value and Today’s Role for Health
    Cooperatives
2. Primary Health Care: Its Current Situation and Challenges
3. Poverty, International Cooperation and Health Cooperatives’ Medical Care:
    Its Current Situation and Approach
4. WHO Session: Age Friendly Cities and Primary Health Care – Town Development for Birth,
    nurturing and passing – Patient Rights
5. International Human Resource Exchange: Aiming at the Empowerment of Staff

Speakers for Sectional Meetings:
• Mr. Marc Socquet, ILO
• Dr. Daichi Morioka (Médecines du Monde
• Representatives from health cooperatives in Japan, Spain, UK, Belgium,
Vietnam, Canada, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Republic of Korea, and
Mongolia.
• Speakers from JICA, UNICEF and the World Bank

Monday 22 October
9:30     Reports from Sectional Meetings
10:30   Special Reports from Brazil, Benin, Sri Lanka, and Nepal
11:45   Closing Remarks from Dr. José Carlos Guisado, IHCO President

The conference will be held at the Shinjyuku NS Building in Tokyo, and will be followed by several field trips to health co-ops of particular interest.

The European Union of the Social Pharmacies (EUSP) has agreed on recommendations for the development of standards for good practice in pharmacies.
The Italian member ASSOFARM hosted the EUSP General Assembly in Verona, Italy, between 27-29 of September. At the General Assembly, the Union decided on the creation of a “joint platform of good practices”.

The Union has thus included into their Declaration of Common Principles and Values as a Basis for the Sanitary System of the European Union Member States “the adaptation of an approach that gives evidence to preventive measures as an integrated strategy for the member states.

Dr. Eudes de Freitas Aquino

35 years with Unimed São Paulo
Last December, the Federation of Unimeds in the State of São Paulo celebrated their 35th anniversary.

"Such a celebration should be known and celebrated by the co-operative world in general and health co-operatives in particular, says Dr. José Carlos Guisado, IHCO President, in his official greeting to Unimed São Paulo. It serves as a “best example” of the work that has been accomplished and, in particular, of the coherence, sustainability, and continuity of actions and efforts that health co-operatives can bring to society over time; and also, it reflects the opportunities that health co-operatives could offer in the future."

To document the Federation’s history, it has issued two interesting documents.

The book “Unimed São Paulo Federation: 35 years of constructing cooperativism” gives an in-depth description of the Federation’s history, but – as Dr. Freitas comments – it is not only a stroll along memory lane:

Social and Educational projects
Unimed has over the last decades also developed a large number of social and educational projects, all within the organisation’s concept of Social Responsibility. 328 such projects are presently organized throughout the state of São Paulo alone, and more than 1,000 social and educational projects form part of Unimed activities across the entire country.
As part of the 35th anniversary, the São Paulo Federation has also issued a “Summary of Social Actions in 2006”, where all the 328 projects are described.

The summary is an important document in itself, but also an appeal to all other organisations to join in the struggle for social justice.
socialactions

Programme for the ICA General Assembly
The programme for the activities during and adjoining the ICA General Assembly in Singapore is now available on the ICA web site.
Events of particular interest to IHCO members include:

Sunday, 14 October     9:00-17:00       ICA Global Youth Conference
                        14:00   ICA Board Meeting
Monday, 15 October    9:00-17:00       ICA Board Meeting
                        17:30-20:00     Meeting of Chairpersons of ICA Sectorial Org’s
Tuesday, 16 October    17:00-21:00     CICOPA Executive Committee
                        18:30-20:00     ICA Expo Briefing
Wednesday, 17 October          9:00-17:00       IHCO GA (Venue: RCC, Indiana)
Thursday, 18 October ICA General Assembly:
                        9:30     Opening Ceremony
                        11:00   Keynote Speakers
                        14:00-17:30     Sessions
Friday, 19 October       ICA General Assembly:
                        9:00     Panel Session
                        13:30-18:00     ICA Statuatory Business

Östersund health conference:
Misinterpreted procurement rules hamper health initiatives!

In conjunction with the IHCO meeting in Ostersund, Sweden, Swedish member Medicoop organized a conference on public procurement in Europe, and how this effects co-operative health initiatives.

The conference was organized in collaboration with several local, regional and national NGO’s and authorities. Experiences from co-operative health care in different countries were discussed, as well as recent experiences on how European Union procurement rules have affected co-operative health providers.

The former Swedish government launched an investigation to evaluate procurement rules in the health care sector, and Ms. Inger Schörling of this delegation informed, that small and independent Swedish providers regard the procurement rules as the single largest impediment for the development of medical and health care in Sweden.
The conference approved the so called “Östersund Document”, where all organisations present appeal to their countries’ authorities to initiate a constructive dialogue with NGO’s in order to find new paths towards better and fairer health systems.

IHCO Board
The IHCO held its first 2007 Board meeting in Mörsil, Sweden, on the 23rd of May.
Among the more important issues were the discussions on the adaptation of IHCO rules to the ICA, admission of new members and the completion of the survey on international health co-operatives.
The IHCO rules have previously been reviewed to adapt to ICA rules. However, at the General Assembly in Singapore in October, amendments will be made to the ICA rules. The Board thus decided to appoint a commission at that instance to handle the matter between regular IHCO meetings.

Our regional organisation for Asia and the Pacific, APHCO, was formally admitted as a new member of the IHCO.

caption: Jean-Pierre Girard of Canadian Sherbrooke University is the coordinator of the survey

The “Health and Social Care Cooperative Knowledge Base Project 2007” is an IHCO activity that has previously been briefly described on these pages. It aims at gathering as many health and social co-operatives as possible into a database, including basic information on each co-operative. IHCO member organisations are presently participating in the collecting of data from their respective regions, based on two different questionnaires – one for health and social co-ops, another for health and social co-op associations. These questionnaires will be published in a downloadable form on this site in a few weeks, but for the time being we urge all health and social co-ops that read this to fill in the information in the form presented enclosed to this article – here and on the index page – and submit them to Ms. Genevieve Bussiere of Sherbrooke University in Canada, e-mail: Genevieve.Bussiere@USherbrooke.ca

Inform us about your health or social co-operative!
If you have not answered to our survey questionnaire and read these lines, please provide the following basic information about you co-operative:

1. Country:
2. Name of your co-op:
3. Name of contact person:
4. Title or position of contact person:
5. E-mail address and contact information:
6. Website (if you have one):

Espriu Foundation and Unimed Foundation visit Colombia
IHCO members Espriu Foundation of Spain and Unimed of Brazil participated in the National Co-operative Meeting of Colombia in Bogotá June 7-8.

IHCO President and Espriu vice President, Dr. José Carlos Guisado, Espriu vice President, Dr. Josip Ortiol Gras, and Espriu Director and IHCO Secretary General Mr. Estanislau Simón, attended the meetings, together with Unimed President and IHCO vice President, Dr. Almir Adir Gentil of Unimed Foundation.

The delegation had the opportunity to meet with Ms. Clemencia Dupont Cruz, CEO of the Colombian Cooperative Federation CONFECOOP, as well as with its President, Dr. Carlos Gustavo Palacino, and discuss the co-operative health situation in our countries, as well as activities and challenges.

The health sector session of the national meeting was organized by IHCO member Saludcoop and Colombian health and social co-operative Coomeva. Dr. Guisado gave a presentation on “The present situation of health cooperativism in the world – co-operative convergence and collaboration with governments in health matters”, and Dr. Gentil gave a presentation on “Medical co-operatives – leaders of health and social transformation in Brazil”.

Dr. Orial Gras displayed a film on the life and works of Dr. Espriu, and IHCO Secretary General Mr. Estanisalu Simón explained the history, activities, aims and structure of the Espriu Foundation.

Dr. Guisado was interviewed by Colombian national television and several newspapers and magazines.

Swedish IHCO member Medicoop has signed a new agreement with KFO, an employers’ organisation with 2,400 co-operative companies as members, embracing more than 80,000 employees.

" We need to be as many as possible in order to strengthen our power as a pressure group," says Medicoop President Per-Olof Jönsson. "We want to intensify the concept that NGO’s should form a considerable part of the social resources within the fields of healthcare and welfare."

IHCO meeting in Sweden:
“Co-operation, Subcontracting and Public Procurement within Healthcare and Wefare”

Medicoop will host the IHCO spring meeting in May. In the city of Östersund, The IHCO Board meeting will be held on May 23, preceded by a workshop the day before.

“What kind of private and co-operative healthcare services should be publicly financed, and how should they be managed?” This is a topic for debate in Sweden as well as in other countries. On May 22, a workshop will deal with these questions in the Old Theatre in the city of Östersund in Sweden. Apart from IHCO members, several local and national Swedish health co-ops are invited to share their experiences.
The visit to Östersund will end on May 24 with a field trip to a moose garden.

From left to right, Gauden Galea WHO Coordinator for Health Promotion and Bernard Kadasia representative of IAS, who presided the meeting.

A meeting was held on the 9th March 2007, in Geneva, for the representatives of the organizations that make up the NGO Advisory Group. The Group’s objective is to give advise to the World Health Organization (WHO) about subjects related to Health Promotion. Bernard Kadasia, the representative of the International AIDS Society (IAS), presided the meeting. The most recent projects linked to Health Promotion, as the member organizations have carried out since the last meeting held in February 2006, were discussed.

Dr. Gauden Galea, the new WHO coordinator for Health Promotion, proposed guidelines for the collaboration between the NGOs and the WHO department of Health Promotion and appeared to be very interested in the proposals put forward by NGO representatives.

On the other hand, Stephen B. Fawcett, an expert in health and community development, presented an interesting report in which he demonstrated the operation of those tools that are useful in the development of communities and in improving the level of health of the inhabitants.

Also debated during the session were various initiatives for the future and an action plan for the next two years was agreed. Amongst other actions, it was decided that the collaboration of more organizations should be sought, to present a document about “The role of civil society in primary health care”, at the 60th World Health Assembly, to promote the Bangkok Charter and to create a web site on which information can be exchanged between the members of the group. The results of these actions will be presented at the 7th Global Conference on Health Promotion, to be held in 2009.

The International Health Cooperatives Organization (IHCO), which is an active member of the NGO Advisory Group, was represented at the meeting by their General Secretary Estanislau Simón.

This platform of non-government organizations was constituted informally during the 4th Global Conference on Health Promotion, held in July 1997 in Jakarta. Since then, it has worked in collaboration with the WHO in its department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, taking advantage of the diversity of its members and their commitment to Health Promotion.

Eat Healthy Co-op Food Festival
On 18-19 November, Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union (JCCU) held an "Eat Healthy Co-op Food Festival 2006" in the city of Kobe. This was the second festival, following the one held in Tokyo in November 2005.
More than 20,000 co-op members visited the two-day festival, where some of the main themes were:

• To exchange ideas about changing eating habits and about healthy food
• To support environments that encourage healthy eating habits.

The festival was jointly hosted by organizations who promote food education, including government authorities, several consumer co-operatives, business federations, food companies, producers, and NGO’s.

Co-op members enjoyed the displays as well as hands-on experiences. For example, children enjoyed playing a food education card game, and making lunchbox card games. At a special kitchen, co-op members learnt to make traditional Japanese dishes like “Udon Noodle”.
Next year, "Eat Healthy Co-op Food Festival 2007"will be held in Tokyo in August.

British government promotes health enterprise
The British government has put aside 73 million pounds over four years to support and encourage the development of social enterprises in health and social care.
One of the parts of the programme is the Flying Start Programme for Social Entrepreneurs in Health, a training programme for graduates who would like to start a business in the health care industry.

The training includes a three-day start-up and then a 12 month mentoring programme. Afterwards, the participants can also apply for further support from the Department of Health’s so called Pathfinder Programme, in order to facilitate the continuing health care ventures.

International co-op projects
CCA of Canada is involved in several international co-op projects. In India they have launched a joint project with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in order to strengthen six health and child care co-ops.
SEWA has some 200,000 women members who have built their own co-operative bank, research centre, health care clinics, child care units and much more in a sustained effort to improve their lives. The CCA has preciously supported SEWA in different projects, and in this new project they work with six service co-ops that provide health and child care services in local communities. The CCA project focuses on strengthening members’ technical skills, like midwifery and nursing, and managing skills to maximize the co-ops’ outreach and impact.

Unimed youth volunteers for school supplies
A group of 26 youth volunteers from different Unimed units in Chapecó, Brazil, have started a project to collect school supplies for children in a socially vulnerable situation. They aim to improve the studying conditions for a large number of children who lack the financial means to get even the most basic supplies, such as notebooks, pencils and pens, erasers, rulers, school bags and uniforms.
Unimed has established centres for donations in several clinics in Chapecó. Says Unimed Chapecó President Luiz Roberto Dalla Costa:
“Shortage of school supplies is a serious problem that effects many of the children in our city. If all of us participate, we can give substantial help to these children’s education. They represent the future of this city.”

Canadian co-ops campaign for Social Economy money
The conservative Canadian government plans to cut over 39 million Canadian dollars from the Social Economy Initiative. CCA of Canada is very concerned with this, since this is unspent money that has been allocated to the regional development agencies for, among other things, development and loans for community enterprises such as co-operatives.
The CCA asks the government to reconsider, and in an on-line campaign urges readers to join the campaign by sending a message to members of Parliament.

New health co-op survey
The IHCO Board decided in Manchester to go ahead and launch an extensive work to compile a survey over the world’s health co-operatives.

It is a vast survey that will offer determining criteria for what could be considered a true “health co-operative”. But it will also include other co-op providers linked to health care. All IHCO members will take part in the work, and will contribute with information on health co-operatives in their own region.

The project has been made possible with the financial contribution from Canadian Desjardin, Co-operators, Sherbrooke University, and the Canadian government. The IHCO wishes to acknowledge its deeply felt gratitude towards these organisations for their generous contributions to this project.

This project was presented by IHCO member Jean-Pierre Girard from Canadian CCC/CCA. Mr. Jean-Pierre Girard will also lead the project, and hopes to publish its results by the end of 2007.

In connection with the ICA European General Assembly held in Manchester on November 10-11, the IHCO held a fund-raising seminar for co-operatives on Thursday 9th. The seminar opened with a brief presentation of a 1999 ICA report on fund-raising, made in collaboration with Swedish Co-operative Institute Koopi. The presentation, held by IHCO editor Mr. Peter Enestrom, consists of two parts – a guide-line to implement a fund-raising strategy among co-operatives who are so inclined, and two appendixes, chartering major funders at that time.

The report is still useful in many respects, but has not been updated since 1999, Mr Enestrom said. Even though fund-raising basics still apply to a large extent, especially the lists of funders should be regarded as partially obsolete.

Ms. Kathleen Speake of Canadian CCA, IHCO editor Mr. Peter Enestrom and fund-raiser Mr. Noam Perski.

Ms. Kathleen Speake, Canadian CCA’s Director for Asia and Eastern Europe gave an interesting speech on her organisation’s experiences in financing co-operative ventures. One of the challenges for the future Ms Speake pointed out is the need for co-operative collaboration:

Let’s consider how co-op organizations might share in the delivery of projects, she said. With a higher level of funding, co-op organizations could provide their respective areas of expertise in a multi-sectoral program, or co-ops could work in one sector across a whole sub-region. We could negotiate the longer project timelines needed for effective capacity building, and ultimately demonstrate greater reach and impact.

Professional fund-raiser Mr. Noam Perski rounded off the seminar by giving a highly appreciated lecture on the A-B-C’s of fund-raising.

Apart from the traditional funders, a new range of funding organisations is emerging. Modern entrepreneurs have made all the money they can possibly need from their businesses, and now they are looking for collaboration and partnerships where they can put their money to good use in socially responsible ventures.
In short, he concluded, there is more money out there than we have projects.

IHCO President, Dr. José Carlos Guisado, made reference to these lectures in his closing remarks.

It is time we start thinking along new lines, he said. The IHCO intends to start coordinating joint co-operative ventures in terms of both financing and project design. It is essential that we put our co-operative strengths together in order to identify and design projects that offer a broad approach in meeting basic human needs. Not only clinics, but also good housing, micro financing, consumer and producer co-ops and so on.

This decision was later ratified in the IHCO Board meeting. More on this issue will be discussed and published in the near future.

Colombian health co-op SaludCoop was admitted as a new member to IHCO at the board meeting in Manchester on November 9th. SaludCoop was founded I 1994, and has since grown into one of Latin America’s leading health care providers, and has also established health co-ops in other Latin American countries. Over the last year, SaludCoop in Colombia provided 7,5 million general medical consultations, 2 million specialized consultations, 3 million deontological consultations and 1,3 million emergency calls. President of SaludCoop, Carlos Gustavo Palacino, is also Vice President for the Americas in the ICA Board and President of the ICA Americas regional organisation.

SaludCoop President Carlos Palacino (left) with IHCO member and Argentinean FAESS President Dr. Ricardo López.

The IHCO Board agreed to join the project América Cooperativa y Mutual (ACYM – Co-operative and Mutual America), sponsored by the Strategies and Tools against Social Exclusion and Poverty (STEP) Program. This project, in which the ILO, the Alianza del Nutualismo de América (AMA), and the Americas Association of Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Societies (AAC/MIS) are all participating, strives to strengthen the extension of social protection in areas with more deficiencies by means of the experiences of the health co-operatives.

In a survey among almost 4,000 clients over the age of 18 years, Unimed of Brazil has reached the country's highest level of customer satisfaction. However, a national decrease in health plans worries Unimed Officials.

Unimed's clients are the most satisfied with their health plans, the survey reveals - 87% as opposed to 72% for other companies. Furthermore, 55% of the Brazilian physicians recommend a Unimed health plan to their clients.

Another result from the survey, however, reveals a more troublesome note; the number of health plans in Brazil has decreased from 39.6 million in 2003 to 25.1 million today.

"The good news is that we are the leading company in the sense that our clients express a high level of satisfaction, and as the physicians respect and trust Unimed. On the other hand it is obvious that without a consistent economic growth - with more jobs and a raise in the purchasing powers of the people - health plans will continue to decrease."

Unimed Marketing and Development Director, Dr. Almir Gentil, underlines the great importance of Unimed for Brazilians in general, including those yet without a health plan:

"A solid leadership is one that is not only in the minds, but that has also conquered the hearts, of the clients", he says. "To find out that nearly nine out of ten customers are satisfied with the services rendered shows that were are on the right track."

International Health Co-operative Organisation

A sectoral organisation of the ICA

www.ica.coop/ihco

International co-operation and health care protection