PHA-Exchange> NEW UN-BACKED GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP AIMS TO BOOST ACCESS TO HEALTH INFORMATION

[Claudio]

From: "Vern Weitzel" <vern.weitzel at undp.org>

NEW UN-BACKED GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP AIMS TO BOOST ACCESS TO HEALTH INFORMATION

The members of the United Nations World Health Organization
(<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) today
<"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr20/en/index.html">laun
ched an innovative
global partnership that seeks better access for health practitioners and
policy-makers to
information that would improve health care for all.

The Health Metrics Network
(<"http://www.who.int/healthmetrics/en/index.html">HMN) is comprised of
countries, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, foundations,
global health initiatives
and technical experts and aims to boost the availability and use of timely,
reliable health
information by drawing together the funding and development of core health
information systems in
developing countries.

“In some areas of the world, even basic facts such as a person's birth,
their death and cause of
death are not recorded," said WHO Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook. “The
Health Metrics Network
will work to close this gap by helping countries improve their ability to
gather this vital health
information. Accurate data is critical to identifying problems and
implementing effective solutions
for people's health.”

HMN will also bring together health and statistical constituencies to build
capacity and expertise
for strengthening health information systems so local, regional and global
decision-makers have
quality data on which to base decisions to improve health. It responds to a
need for evidence-based
policy-making that can enable countries to make more efficient use of health
budgets.

In addition, other global initiatives including the Millennium Development
Goals
(<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and
Malaria, Global Alliance for Vaccines & Immunization (GAVI) and the
President’s Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) have increased the demand for sound health information.

The Network has received an initial grant of $50 million over seven years
from the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation and additional contributions from other donors, including
the United Kingdom’s
Department for International Development, the United States Agency for
International Development
(<"http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp">UNAID) and the Danish International
Development Agency.