PHA-Exchange> US$ 5.1 Billion Would Save 6 Million Children (2)

[CLAUDIO at hcmc.netnam.vn]

 from Peter Burgess <Profitinafrica at aol.com> -----

US$ 5.1 Billion Would Save 6 Million Children (2)
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Dear Colleagues,

Do I have this right?

US$ 5,100,000,000 is US$ 5.1 billion
6,000,000 is 6 million
Average cost per child saved in US$ 875

Am I missing something? It is my understanding that child mor-
tality is affected in developing countries because of a missing
US$ 10 per child, rather than a missing US$ 875 per child.

I understand that one bed for one day in a US hospital can cost
around US$ 875 before paying for medical procedures, medica-
tions, etc.... but incremental new resources of US$ 5.1 billion
for 6 million children does not seem to make a lot of sense in
the global "south".

The Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is struggling
with funding ... the goal of US$ 10 billion a year has been
scaled back and it looks as if the Global Fund will be lucky to
have US$ 3 billion over three years. Certainly financial help
for the crisis of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is justified...
but is not forthcoming.

I think we need to look very hard at the "phantom aid" issue. My
impression is that far too much resource consumption is taking
place doing work that never actually results in any relief and
development benefit. Oxfam and Action Aid have recently written
about it... and my experience helping in Africa with aid coordi-
nation certainly confirmed for me that far too little of the do-
nor funding ever get anywhere near where it was most needed.

Put it another way... if I have a family of five children in the
global "south"... that would give a budget of 5 x 875 or US$
4,375.... and with that money my family would be able to move
out of poverty and into the middle class of rural farm families.
My family would be on the way. Actually with a 10th of this
money I could jump start my economic future.

Maybe I have it all wrong.... but I think I am looking at phan-
tom aid. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is a
well known medical health establishment, but I am not at all
sure that they have it right when it comes to the economic
health treatments needed for the global "south". Please correct
me if I am mistaken.



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