Global Health

On 23 March 2011 EPHA was present at an expert meeting in the European Parliament examining the next steps to be taken in addressing maternal mortality and how much progress is being made to reach Millenium Development Goal 5; to reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio. The event looked at the responses of various institutions, and in particular that of the European Parliament, which was represented by Michael Cashman MEP, Antonyia Parvanova MEP and Sophie In’t Veld MEP (...)

Acute shortages, and the uneven distribution of health workers within and between countries amount to a global health workforce crisis. Countries classified as low-income economies are particularly affected and this situation raises serious doubts over the possibility of achieving the health-related MDGs. The WHO has released figures showing that only 5 of the 49 countries categorized as low-income economies by the World Bank meet the minimum threshold of 23 doctors, nurses and midwives (...)

Alliance2015 - a partnership of cross-European non-government organizations working in the field of development cooperation - urged the European Commission (EC) at a hearing in the European Parliament on June 1st to show bold and responsible leadership in the preparations towards the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). EPHA was present during the hearing. The sixth 2015-Watch Report "The EU’s Contribution to the Millennium Development Goals. Keeping the Goals (...)

At the Development Policy Forum (DPF) Roundtable debate on 13 April 2010, European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs said that Europe needed to change its development aid paradigm – away from EU policies and towards developing countries’ policies. But what does that mean in terms of ownership of committments and actions? Will it improve development cooperation? Against the backdrop of ODA (Official Development Aid) figures showing a significant drop in development (...)

On the occassion of Mother’s Day, the European Parliament Working Group on Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS and Development, in collaboration with Amnesty International’s EU Office, organised an event on 6 May 2010 to draw attention to the urgent need for action to improve maternal health worldwide. Chaired by Sophie in `t Veld MEP, the event was structured around a BBC documentary screening of "Death mothers don`t cry" and included also a speech delivered by Amnesty (...)

On 20 May 2010, at the 63rd World Health Assembly, health ministers agreed to adopt the voluntary Code of Practice. Current unregulated large-scale migration can have a devastating impact on the health systems of source countries - many of these fragile and developing countries. Therefore, since 2004 the WHO Member States have been developing a Code of Practice on the international recruitment of health personnel. In 2008 the first draft was presented for stakeholders` comments, and on 20 (...)

In light of the upcoming UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Review Summit in September 2010, and concerned by the fact that the achievement of the MDGs lags behind and greatly varies between countries, the 63rd World Health Assembly adopted a resolution on monitoring and strengthening global commitments in order to achieve them. Key points of the resolution on monitoring the achievement of health-related MDGs the MDGs are interlinked and therefore the global partnership for (...)

On 31 March 2010, the European Commission proposed a new and more coherent approach to EU health cooperation through its new Communication on the role of the EU in Global Health. By applying European health and equity principles to Global Health policies, the EC signals a strong commitment to ensuring the Right to Health for all. In adopting the Communication, the European Commissioners for Development (Andris Piebalgs), Health and Consumer Policy (John Dalli) and Research , Innovation and (...)

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) hast cost the world 20 million lives since the Identification of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) 28 years ago. For the 33 Million people across the globe currently living with HIV, World AIDS Vaccine Day on 18 May 2009, pays tribute to those working to make AIDS a thing of the past. Developing a vaccine for AIDS is not an easy thing to do. For nearly thirty years, the possibility of an AIDS vaccine has been just out of reach. With no viable (...)

Since January 2007 the WHO podcast has been bringing public health information and related news from around the world for people to listen and learn. What is a podcast? A podcast usually consists of a combination of audio and/or video that is made available for download via syndication. It is this syndication aspect of the delivery that separates a podcast from a file available for download. The files are usually retrieved with software applications (generically known as podcatchers) so (...)