Publications

These resources provide evidence-based perspectives on some of the most pressing global issues.

• Rethinking drug policy
• Effective communication strategies for global solidarity
• Exciting lesson plans for teaching about ‘global poverty and its colonial roots’
• Root causes of poor health
• The importance of health systems that are designed for everyone

For a deeper overview of why we focus on these areas, visit campaign issues.

Drug policy:

Revealing the Missing Link to Climate Justice: Drug Policy (2023)

A ground-breaking report from the International Coalition on Drug Policy Reform and Environmental Justice brings together evidence that reveals how the system of drug prohibition – the so-called war on drugs – is undermining climate action.

VIDEO: Global drug policy is a barrier to climate justice (2022)

For countries to prepare for the climate emergency we need strong accountable governance and functioning public services. Global drug policy (prohibition) makes this impossible.

Legal Regulation through a Social Justice Lens (2021)

15 key priorities to develop a framework for legal regulation of the drug trade that will strengthen global equity.

WEBINAR: Drug policy through a social development lens (2020)

An eight part webinar series featuring speakers from impacted communities, crop producers, environmental activists, and experts in the fields of tax, trade and corporate regulation, we explore how drug policies intersect with some of the most pressing issues facing the Majority world today.

Punishing poverty – how the failed ‘war on drugs’ harms vulnerable communities (2019)

Report on Brazil and India exploring how the ‘war on drugs’ perpetuate a vicious cycle of poverty.

The hidden opioid crisis – how the so-called ‘war on drugs’ leaves patients to die in pain (2019)

Explores the impact of drug prohibition on access to essential opioid pain relief, such as morphine, in three Indian states.

Cannabis: Regulate it. Tax it. Support the NHS. Promote public health (2018)

Examining the potential health benefits of regulating cannabis for the UK.

Building a 21st Century Approach to Drugs (2018)

Key principles for building a new evidence-based approach to drugs both in the UK and globally that puts people’s health and wellbeing first.

VIDEO: Rethink Drug Policy (2016)

Health Poverty Action is calling for a new approach to drug policy, which puts people’s health and rights first. 

Drug policy and the sustainable development goals (2015)

How the so-called ‘war on drugs’ undermines the  UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Casualties of war: how the war on drugs is harming the world’s poorest (2015)

A comprehensive look at how the war on drugs harms the world’s poorest.

Communicating for global justice – tools:

Practical resources to help communications support action for global solidarity.

A practical guide for communicating global justice and solidarity

A toolkit which outlines how to address the root causes of poverty and build global solidarity through our communications. Also available in French guide pratique pour communiquer sur la justice globale et la solidarité, and Dutch een praktische gids voor communicatie over mondiale rechtvaardigheid en solidariteit.

Principles for communicating global justice and solidarity

Download and display our poster outlining the key principles to remember when preparing any communications.

A guide to communication pitfalls

Download and display this poster to remind you of the common pitfalls to avoid in your communications.

Education for global justice:

Practical resources for sixth from teachers exploring the colonial roots of global poverty.

Lesson plan

Download the lesson plan for sixth form teachers on ‘Global Poverty and its colonial roots’.

PowerPoint slides

Download the PowerPoint slides for our lesson on ‘Global Poverty and its colonial roots’.

Leaflet for students

Download the leaflet for sixth form students to accompany our lesson on ‘Global Poverty and its colonial roots’.

Further reading

Download the further reading resource for sixth form students to accompany our lesson on ‘Global Poverty and its colonial roots’.

Root causes of poor health:

A series of resources looking at underlying causes of global poverty and ill-health.

Trading up for Health: How to prevent trade deals from undermining health (2019)

Read our report about the risks post-Brexit trade deals could have on our health and the alternatives that could help avoid them.

Changing track: putting people before corporations (2018)

Governments divert $1 trillion annually from people and public services towards large corporations. Our briefing outlines why governments need to put people before corporations.

The alternatives: approaches towards a life in full  (2018)

A report exploring evidence from a range of countries which have – to varying extents – successfully promoted inclusive development or indeed, alternatives to Western ideas of development itself (market fundamentalism).

Reclaiming internationalism (2018)

We need a new vision for development with a focus on ending the root causes of global poverty and inequality. We must ensure that we look beyond Britain’s borders to build a world which works for the many, not the few.

Honest accounts 2: Africa’s billion-dollar losses (2017)

A detailed look at how the rest of the world is extracting wealth from countries. This is an update of our 2014 report.

Health and taxation (2015)

Tax is a fundamental issue for health. The theft of tax revenue denies people their right to health. How can progressive taxation support health systems in the Global South?

Health and Trade (2015)

How global trade system poses a range of direct threats to health.

Honest accounts (2014)

A detailed look at how the rest of the world is extracting wealth from countries in Africa. Honest accounts 2: Africa’s billion-dollar losses (2017) shares updated figures on wealth extraction from countries in Africa.

Health systems:

Resources exploring the importance of strong health systems.

Indigenous women’s maternal health and maternal mortality (2018)

A fact sheet on indigenous women’s maternal health commissioned by UNFPA and written by Health Poverty Action and Minority Rights Group.

VIDEO: Every country should have an NHS (2016)

Our NHS is amazing. Every country should have an NHS. For that to happen we need justice – not charity. 

Healthy revenues: how the extractives industry can support Universal Health Coverage in Sierra Leone (2015)

A report about how greater tax revenue from the extractives industry in Sierra Leone could help to fund healthcare.

Aid in reverse: the UK’s responsibility to address the health workforce crisis (2013)

Examining how the UK benefits from health workers trained in world’s poorest countries.

(Briefing) Aid in reverse: the UK’s responsibility to address the health workforce crisis (2013)

A short briefing based on The Health Worker Crisis report.

Killing us with hunger: Indigenous perspectives on nutrition, food aid and food sovereignty in the central Amazon of Peru (2013)

This report looks at the problems with food aid in Peru, and how to work towards a food sovereignty solution.

Every mother counts: reporting data by ethnicity (2013)

Examining the lack of statistical information around the health outcomes of women from Indigenous and other marginalised ethnic and cultural groups.

Mothers on the Margins (2010)

A report examining the challenges for Indigenous women’s maternal health.