PHA-Exchange> HEALTH AND FINANCE MINISTERS TO ADDRESS NEED FOR WORLDWIDE INCREASE IN HEALTH INVESTMENT

[Aviva]

> > HEALTH AND FINANCE MINISTERS TO ADDRESS NEED FOR WORLDWIDE INCREASE
IN
> > HEALTH INVESTMENT
> >
> > Geneva - Ministers of Health, Finance and Planning from 40
developing
> > countries will come together with development partners at WHO
headquarters
> > from 29 to 30 October to address the need to significantly increase
> > investments in health. This is the first time that the World Health
> > Organization (WHO) has hosted a meeting so widely attended by
non-health
> > officials, underlining the urgency of building national capacity to
absorb
> > increased health funding.
> >
> > "This meeting signifies real political commitment from the highest
levels
> > of government and donor representatives. Let us capitalize on this
unique
> > opportunity to recognize health as a critical investment and
together
> > develop a common understanding of how countries and their partners
can
> > transform these commitments into immediate actions. We must choose
to make
> > equitable and efficient health investments a reality," said WHO
> > Director-General Dr LEE Jong-wook.
> >
> > This meeting comes nearly two years after the launch of the 2001
Report of
> > the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH), which recommends
that
> > by 2007, donors should increase assistance for health to US$ 27
billion.
> > The Commission also calls for more budgetary resources for public
health
> > from both developed and developing countries, and more political
and
> > organizational effort than has been seen in the past decades to
achieve
> > real improvements in health.
> >
> > Two years on, the world still has not shown determination to
increase
> > investment in health to the levels needed to measurably impact
major
> > diseases that affect the world's poor. A recent study* has shown
that the
> > total development assistance for health from major selected sources
> > increased by US$ 1.6 billion, from an average of US$ 6.1 billion
> > (1997-1999) to US$ 7.7 billion (2001). Most of the increase in
funding was
> > allocated to fighting HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Although
these
> > recent increases in assistance for health are encouraging, they
still fall
> > short of meeting real needs.
> >
> > "On taking office, I declared the target of '3 by 5'- to have 3
million
> > people with AIDS in developing countries on treatment with
antiretrovirals
> > by the end of 2005. Only 300 000 are on treatment at the moment. To
> > achieve '3 by 5' and other health priorities we need considerably
more
> > funds than those currently available. If we don't increase
resources for
> > health and target these resources to activities that will have the
> > greatest impact, we stand to lose millions of men, women and
children to
> > disease. This also means trapping individuals and families in
poverty and
> > disillusionment," said Dr Lee.
> >
> > During the meeting, the combined work of countries, WHO and
partners will
> > be to develop concrete plans for increased health investment in
countries.
> > Continued global leadership and follow-up from the development
community,
> > combined with inter-ministerial collaboration is needed: first, to
> > increase resources for health from domestic resources, debt relief
and
> > development assistance for health, and second to eliminate health
system
> > and institutional constraints, enabling greater absorption of
increased
> > resources. This will be critical for pursuing country action to
reach the
> > '3 by 5' and other health targets.
> >
> > "We need country-specific blueprints for making real increases in
health
> > investment. Developing countries and their partners need to
collectively
> > and quickly do much more, for health and global stability. This
meeting
> > can identify ways to make this happen," added Dr Lee.
> >
> > National Macroeconomics and Health activities are ongoing in the
countries
> > participating in the Consultation: From Africa: Angola, Botswana,
Congo,
> > Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda,
Senegal,
> > South Africa, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania. From the
Americas:
> > Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and the Caribbean
Community
> > including Haiti. From the Eastern Mediterranean: Djibouti, Iran
(Islamic
> > Republic of), Jordan, Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen. From Europe:
Azerbaijan and
> > Estonia. From South East Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Indonesia,
> > Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. From the Western Pacific:
> > Cambodia, China, Philippines and Viet Nam.
> >
> > * Development Assistance for Health (DAH): Recent Trends and
Resource
> > Allocation
> >