PHM-Exch> Donors urged to tackle leading killer of under-fives

[Sue Perez]

Hi all,

I find this disturbing because the message that this sends in my view
is - AIDS, TB and malaria is getting too much money so let's move some
of it to address diarrheal diseases. It is true that AIDS has received
relatively more money than other health issues, but should we be
promoting what I interpret as the key msg in the articles the notion
that shifting money from one disease to another is the answer? This is
exactly the kind of divisive rhetoric that we should be resisting. So
we should move money away from AIDS, TB and malaria to focus on saving
children from diarrheal disease? You save a child's life from
diarrheal disease, but then the child dies of malaria because now the
pendulum of resources has swung the other way? We need to be working
towards messages of increasing money for everything instead of pitting
disease against disease, MDG against MDG and ultimately trading
deaths. I find this really not helpful.

Best, Sue


On Sat, May 16, 2009 at 6:14 AM, Claudio Schuftan
<cschuftan at phmovement.org> wrote:
> EXCERPTS
> From: Vern Weitzel <vern.weitzel at gmail.com>
> crossposted from: "[health-vn discussion group]" <health-vn at anu.edu.au>,
> "[Water and Sanitation WG]" watsan-wg at ngocentre.org.vn
>
> http://www.wateraid.org/documents/plugin_documents/wateraid_fatal_neglect.pdf
>
> "Diarrheal Disease: Solutions to Defeat a Global Killer" may be downloaded
> at:
> http://www.eddcontrol.org/files/Solutions_to_Defeat_a_Global_Killer.pdf
>
> Donors urged to tackle leading killer of under-fives - reports
>
> REUTERS/Natasha Elkington
>
> Two major aid agency reports published this week say millions of children's
> lives are being put at risk because governments and the international aid
> community are not responding appropriately to diseases such as diarrhoea.
> "Diarrhoea kills more children than HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB combined, yet
> compared to these diseases receives little financing and is not prioritised
> by
> governments in donor and developing country governments alike," said Oliver
> Cumming, co-author of a report by Water Aid.
>
> The report shows that between 2004 and 2006 only $1.5 billion was spent
> globally
> on improving sanitation. In the same period, $10.8 billion was spent on
> interventions for HIV/AIDS - responsible for 315,000 child deaths in that
> period, and $3.5 billion on interventions for malaria - responsible for
> 840,000
> child deaths.
>
> HEALTHCARE
>
> A health worker in the only government-run clinic in Kibera said diarrhoea
> was a
> major problem in the slum, which is home to over one million of Kenya's
> poor.
> It's easy to see why - toilets are holes in the ground and many are
> overflowing.
>
> Most clinics in the slum were private and the majority of people could
> not afford the fees. The lack of roads, lighting and poor security also made
> it
> difficult to reach a doctor, particularly if a child fell sick in the middle
> of
> the night.
>
> BURDEN
>
> Another report "Diarrheal Disease: Solutions to Defeat a Global Killer" by
> health advocacy group PATH, speculates that in the 1970s and 1980s
> awareness-raising and fund-raising for tackling the problem were so
> successful
> that the mortality rate fell by almost 50 percent. It says many donors,
> governments and aid agencies may have considered the problem solved.
>
> But the issue is far from solved. Water Aid says that when taking into
> account
> adult deaths, funding for HIV/AIDS is balanced, but when considering child
> deaths, the large resources for fighting the disease are disproportionate.
> Both reports highlight that relatively cheap fixes can be effective - for
> example educating people to wash their hands, using water purifiers and
> disinfectants and taking rehydration salts for diarrhoea.
>
> But the aid community is not devoting sufficient funds or attention to the
> problem, the reports say.
>
> The Kenyan government is working with aid groups to educate the public on
> good
> hygiene, improve water chlorination and provide communities with water
> purifiers
> and disinfectants. But the financial burden is high, says Kenya's Health
> Minister Shahnaaz Sharif.
>
>
> ----
>
> http://www.wateraid.org/uk/about_us/newsroom/7655.asp
>
> Second biggest killer of under-fives being ignored
>
> The report argues that a major cause of child mortality is being neglected.
> Credit: WaterAid / Layton Thompson
>
> The international health agenda is failing to save the lives of millions of
> children by not responding appropriately to causes of child deaths,
> according to
> a new WaterAid report released today.
> Hard-hitting figures published in the report reveal that the aid system is
> not
> responding rationally to disease burden. Despite diarrhoea being the second
> biggest killer of children, critical interventions to prevent these deaths
> attract a dismal amount of international aid.
>
> In 2004, diarrhoea killed 1.8 million children, yet between 2004-2006 only
> $1.5
> billion was spent globally on improved sanitation – vital in the fight to
> protect children from diarrhoea.
>
> In the same period, $10.8 billion was spent on interventions for HIV/AIDS
> (responsible for 315,000 child deaths), and $3.5 billion on those for
> malaria
> (responsible for 840,000 child deaths). [see graph below]
>
> The report stresses that the aid system must continue to tackle diseases
> such as
> malaria and HIV/AIDS but calls for a comparable effort to address diarrhoea.
>
> 'Fatal neglect: How health systems are failing to comprehensively address
> child
> mortality' argues that to reduce under-five deaths by two-thirds and
> therefore
> meet Millennium Development Goal Four, the aid system must target its
> resources
> to diseases that are killing the most children – such as diarrhoea – and
> focus
> on providing cost-effective interventions such as improved sanitation that
> can
> prevent these diseases.
>
> Fatal Neglect shows that the global imbalance of aid allocations is matched
> at
> the national level in developing countries. The report calls for national
> health
> challenges, rather than international campaigns to determine the allocation
> of aid:
>
> In Zambia, the Ministry of Health notes that "over 80% of the health
> conditions
> presented at health institutions are diseases related to poor environmental
> sanitation." Yet environmental health receives just one eighth of the
> funding
> provided for malaria, a disease which kills a similar number of children to
> diarrhoea.
> In Madagascar, UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) found
> the
> number of deaths from HIV/AIDS was too small to estimate, whereas diarrhoeal
> diseases kill 14,000 children every year. Yet HIV/AIDS received five times
> more
> aid than sanitation between 2004-6.
> Rwanda has a 3% AIDS infection rate, but in 2005 almost 75% of donor
> assistance
> for health was for HIV/AIDS and only 2% for health care services for
> childhood
> illnesses.
> "Disease burden is not informing aid decisions," said Cumming. "Donors need
> to
> take a long hard look at their financing and priorities and see if it
> actually
> matches the reality on the ground."
>
> The report also warns that by neglecting sanitation, the effectiveness of
> current health systems is being reduced.
>
>
> WaterAid Policy Officer, Report co-author Oliver Cumming
> WaterAid Executive Director, Barbara Frost
> WaterAid Programme Manager, Advocacy and Communications, Zambia, Nancy
> Mukumbuta
> chloeirvine at wateraid.org
>
> The accuracy of information from media articles posted on this list
> cannot be guaranteed and should be verified before use.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>



-- 
Sue Perez
Policy Director
Treatment Action Group (TAG)
+1.202.615.8831
sue.perez at treatmentactiongroup.org