Global Health

On Wednesday 28 September, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso announced the adoption of an EC proposal to implement a financial transaction tax (FTT) in all 27 members of the European Union. The announcement follows the Commission’s earlier backing on an EU level FTT in its proposal for the bloc’s next multi-annual financial framework (MFF) on 30 June 2011. “The movement for an FTT is really gaining momentum. We’re living in uncertain economic (...)

Against the H1N1 pandemic crisis, the World Health Organisation has engaged in a reflection process to reform the organisation. It looks at its mandate, role, financing and governance - raising questions on the cooperation with economic operators and raising questions on the scope of action of the organisation. The World Health Organisation runs a consultation with its Members (196 Member States at world-wide level) to reform the WHO. At the WHO EURO regional committee, Margaret Chan (...)

The conclusions of a seminar “Moving the ethical hiring of health workers forward” jointly organised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Action for Global Health, and the Andalusian School of Public Health are now available. The Seminar was to examine the various challenges EU Member States face implementing the Code of Practice and of facing the crisis in human resources for Health. The main objective of this workshop was to foster exchange and reflection on the (...)

On 29 June 2011, the European Commission (EC) presented its proposals for the 2014-2020 budget, setting out the possibility for the bloc to raise its own resources through the implementation of a financial transaction tax (FTT). The multi-annual financial framework proposed yesterday sets out the EU’s spending priorities until 2020. ***For Immediate Release*** 30 June 2011, Brusels EU tax on financial transactions must go towards health and development, says Action for Global (...)

On 30 September, the European Commission announced that it would earmark €10 million from its humanitarian aid budget to reduce the impact of epidemics on vulnerable people in developing countries and finance emergency operations that treat outbreaks of communicable diseases. These funds will help 3,600,000 individuals who live in areas at high risk of epidemics to receive proper protection against diseases. These individuals are exposed to a high level of risk to their health and (...)

Transnational outbreaks of infectious diseases like SARS or H1N1, the continuing spread of HIV/AIDS, as well as a growing number of non-communicable diseases related to the globalising world all serve to illustrate the diverse yet common global health threats faced by European and Asian societies, and their impacts on economic and social stability. What can health movements on both continents learn from each other? What role could youth play in public health promotion to truly and (...)

Commissioner Piebalgs announced a 10% increase in funding to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GATFM) Andris Piebalgs, the European Commissioner for Development, made the announcement at the Third Voluntary Replenishment Pledging Conference of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in New York. The conference took place two weeks after the UN High-level Plenary Meeting on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs,) where the Global Fund called for a (...)

Hosted by Michael Cashman MEP and organised by the European Parliament Working Group on Innovation, Access to Medicines and Poverty-Related Diseases, a debate on the widening HIV/AIDS treatment gap in Sub-Saharan Africa and the European Union`s action on it was held on 23 June 2010. Opening the event, Michael Cashman MEP welcomed the Working Group and warned against the discontinuation and reduction of HIV/AIDS treatment which could destroy the results achieved so far. Ms. Mit Philips (...)

Action for Global Health (AFGH) wishes to develop an indicator of the performance of EU donors in the health sector called “Action Tracker”. This Action Tracker will use a combination of performance metrics to assess donor performance in the sector based on the format of the Center for Global Development’s “Commitment to Development Index”. AFGH has commissioned a study on the volume of health ODA given by all EU Member States (the five countries with AFGH (...)

Action for Global Health (AFGH) wishes to record EU commitments, policies, strategies and decisions made by the European Union which are relevant to the achievement of the health MDGs through its "Online guide". This Online Guide will provide a resource library of links to documents and analyses, in a style that is accessible for civil society organisations that do not work on EU issues on a daily basis. Terms of Reference for Action for Global Health “Online guide” Background (...)