Brussels - 4 July 2007 - At the mid-point of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Europe is significantly off-track in fulfilling the promises they committed themselves to on improving health in developing countries. This is the main conclusion of the report published by Action For Global Health (AFGH), a new partnership of 15 non-governmental organisations. Based on the findings of the report, AFGH calls on Europe to publicly acknowledge the lack of progress made towards the health MDGs and to commit them to a new target date of 2009 to meet the donors funding target of € 20 billion, to ensure health MDGs can be met and health systems in developing countries improve significantly.
The health Millennium Development Goals are a one-off chance to build up the health systems of developing countries. The report focuses on the level of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for health required from the European Union in general, and from the biggest economies of Europe specifically; France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The report shows that Europe is failing to fulfill its promises to allocate 0.7% of GNI to ODA. Today only 4 of the EU -15 are on track. All countries are well below 0.1% of GNI as aid for health. (See table 1)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu welcomed the report and said: “We are now half-way to the target date of 2015 when the Millennium development Goals need to be achieved. At this stage the money and the systems were supposed to be in place to allow health to improve enough to meet the targets, but are they? It appears that many governments, north and south, have forgotten what they promised or have used a change of leadership to get out of their commitments. 0.1% of your GDPs as aid for health will be enough to start rebuilding the health systems in developing countries. But the political will needs to be in place both in the donor and recipient countries to invest wholeheartedly in health and health systems if we are ever to achieve the MDGs and the health MDGs in particular. Only then can we make a start with ensuring that each citizen can exert their right to good healh and freedom from poverty.”
The report shows that due to this lack of funding for health, Europe is contributing to major inequalities between health in Western European countries and developing countries. For example;
* The life expectancy of a person born in Italy is 81 years on average, whereas in Nigeria the life expectancy is on average 45 years.
* The rate of deaths of mothers in childbirth across the developed countries averages between 10-14 deaths per 100,000 live births and in Sub Saharan Africa the figure is 921 deaths per 100,000 live births.
* In Sub Saharan Africa 168 in every 1000 children die before their fifth birthday and in the UK it is only 6 per 1000.
In the report AFGH has formulated 12 recommendations that specify what concrete action is needed from Europe. Most important recommendations are:
• Prioritise health now and commit to urgent action.
Close the funding gap of $27 billion of Official Development Assistance by 2009
• 0,1% of GNI.
Europe should aim at allocating 0.1% of their GNI as ODA for health. This amount should not wait until the achievement of 0.7% of GNI to ODA as investment in health needs to be long-term and in place as soon as possible to affect health outcomes in developing countries by 2015.
• Strong health systems.
Europe should ensure that any increases in ODA available for health prioritise long-term, sustainable investment in all aspects of health systems strengthening. A priority focus for this additional finance should be significant investments in both formal and informal health workforce.
To ensure that the European governments draw attention to the contents and implications of this report, following the launch of the European report in Brussels, Action for Global Health partners will be launching specific national versions of the report in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom focusing on the policies of each national government.
Following this, Action for Global Health will be inviting other NGOs and civil society organisations to join with them to build a European campaign, aiming at European governments, the private sector and European institutions.
Action for Global Health will publish a follow-up report annually to assess Europe’s actions and scrutinise their policies on health development aid.
About Action For Global Health
Action for Global Health was established in October 2006. It brings together fifteen non-governmental health and development organisations from Brussels and a number of European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. It aims to monitor the actions and policies of European governments on how they affect health in developing countries, and to influence decision-makers to improve their practice. The report represents a consensus position among the NGOs that constitute Action for Global Health and is intended as a collective advocacy call. For more information: www.actionforglobalhealth.eu
For further information:
In the attachment a full version of the report. If you have any need for additional information or visual materials, please feel free to contact us.
European Public Health Alliance
Frazer Goodwin
Tel: + 32 (0)2 233 38 73
Mobile: + 31 (0)497 416 209
E-mail: frazer@epha.org
Action For Global Health
Simon Wright
Tel: +32 (0)2 503 2837
Mobile: + 44 (0)7931 787 218
