PHA-Exch> EG4Health Newsletter 3

[eg4health at googlemail.com]

WELCOME TO THE EG4HEALTH NEWSLETTER! 

Newsletter 3, 17th March 2009

In this 3rd newsletter from EG4H...
* Read about the subtext of the G20 meeting and find out what the politicians really meant
* The Task Force for International Innovative Financing for Health Systems is preparing to announce its recommendations before the G8 next month in Italy. What is the future for HIV/AIDS funding? 
* Can the private sector fund the gap and deliver better health services? A new Report from PSP-One says it can, but Oxfam says no and busts a few myths along the way.
* Just out! Links to the latest briefs, reports, and events on economic governance for health

THE G20 - THE OLYMPICS OF SPIN?

WHAT THE POLITICIANS 'REALLY' MEANT IN THEIR G20 COMMUNIQUE  

The dust has settled after the G20 meeting in London, but what did the G20 Leaders _really_ want to tell the rest of us, and didn’t quite like to say in as many words? In our spoof reading of the G20 communique ['And now the Subtext'](http://www.eg4health.org/2009/04/09/and-now-the-sub-text%E2%80%A6-what-the-g20-said-and-what-they-really-mean/) EG4H tells it like it is! Read it and weep... 

FUNDING FOR HIV/AIDS IN NEPAL - "EXCEPTIONALITY IN REVERSE"?

What is the future for funding HIV/AIDS and what should the Global Fund, GAVI, and the International health Partnership (IHP) do about it? In a fascinating discussion on the e-forum IHP-CSO Partnership Forum this week, Gorik Ooms from the Institute of Tropical Medicine wrote:

_"What is happening in Nepal is, I believe, the 'exceptionality' of the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria, embodied by the Global Fund, now turning against the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria (or to achieve MDG6). As the Global Fund is focused on three diseases, donor countries are starting to withdraw their bilateral assistance from the fight against these diseases. In doing so, they are supported by the Government and Ministry of Health of Nepal, for example, who excluded AIDS treatment, and TB and malaria prevention and treatment, from the 'compact' they prepared for the IHP"_

Dr Ooms, who until recently was Director of MSF in Belgium, sees a division emerging between two funding channels: on the one hand, the Global Fund and GAVI funding HIV/AIDS; on the other, the IHP directing funds towards health system strengthening. What is required, argues Ooms, is increased cooperation between these three partnerships:

_"I’m not calling for an end to the IHP. I’m calling for the IHP to use the Global Fund and GAVI or a combination of both, as a funding pool for the realisation of the health 'compacts'. That would require a broader mandate for the Global Fund and GAVI, but it would also require the IHP to consider the Global Fund and GAVI as allies, not rivals. And that’s not what is happening today, on the contrary"_

Related links: 
[The Nepal Country Compact](http://www.internationalhealthpartnership.net/pdf/IHP%20Update%2013/MINISTERIAL/NEPAL%20Document.pdf)
Discussion with Alan Whiteside April 20th '[Why HIV/AIDS is Still Exceptiona](http://www.cgdev.org/content/calendar/detail/1421527/)l'
[Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems](http://www.internationalhealthpartnership.net/taskforce.html) 

PRIVATE SECTOR FINANCING - 20/20 VISION OR 'BLIND OPTIMISM'?

For most, if not all, international donors, promoting an expansion of private-sector health-care delivery is the way to realise health for all. Their decisions for doing so are based on evidence and arguments provided by think tanks such as USAID'S PSP-One, amongst others. In a recent Briefing Paper for governments ['The Vital Role of the Private Sector in Reproductive Health](http://www.psp-one.com/content/resource/detail/5260/)', PSP-One argue that _"The private sector can help expand access to and quality of reproductive health services through its resources, expertise, and infrastructure"_ 

According to Oxfam, however, there is an urgent need to reassess the arguments used in favor of scaling-up private-sector provision in poor countries. In their report [Blind Optimism: Challenging the myths about private health care in poor countries](http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/policy/health/bp125_blind_optimism.html) Oxfam argues that prioritizing this approach is extremely unlikely to deliver health for poor people. Instead, _"governments and rich country donors must strengthen state capacities to regulate and focus on the rapid expansion of free publicly provided health care, a proven way to save millions of lives worldwide"._

JUST OUT! LINKS TO THE LATEST WRITING AND EVENTS ON ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE FOR HEALTH

**Toronto  Launch of the Canadian Development Report 2009**
The North-South Institute held the Toronto launch of the 2009 Canadian Development Report - Financing Development in Times of Global Crisis on Wednesday, April 1st. [A read-only electronic copy of the Report](http://www.nsi-ins.ca/english/publications/cdr/default.asp) is now available for download.

**Policy Response to Unfettered Finance (PRUF)**
The first workshop of the Policy Responses to Unfettered Finance (PRUF) project took place at Columbia University in New York on Feb 12th-13th, 2009. The event brought together policymakers, academics, civil society and private sector representatives to discuss the implications of the financial crisis and suggest reform proposals that highlight the needs and priorities of developing countries. For more information and electronic access to documents from the meeting consult [NSI's PRUF blog](http://prufproject.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/first-pruf-workshop-in-new-york-february-12-13/).

**Health in Crisis: Action for Global Health published its 3rd report**
Action for Global Health 3rd report ‘[Health in Crisis](http://www.actionforglobalhealth.eu/media/newsletter_articles/health_in_crisis_action_for_global_health_published_its_3rd_report)’ warns that European governments are preparing to use the economic crisis as an excuse to abandon their commitments to health in developing countries. The report argues that the global economic crisis means that they must show the same determination for urgent action on health as they have in protecting their banking systems.

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