NGOs join together to call on European governments to redouble efforts to improve health in poor countries

Media Release: 03 November 2006

From:

  • International HIV/AIDS Alliance
  • Interact Worldwide
  • TB Alert
  • ActionAid International

NGOs join together to call on European governments to redouble efforts to improve health in poor countries

Deaths of children and mothers continue despite governments’ pledge to meet the Millennium Development Goals

New European advocacy network supported by $10.7m grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Fifteen charities across Europe have joined together to call on their governments to fulfil promises made on health in developing countries. The new European Network for Global Health will focus on pushing governments, charities and the private sector to increase their action to improve healthcare in the south.

The new health campaigning network says that European governments must act quickly to help achieve the health Millennium Development Goals by the target date of 2015.

Many European governments have committed to help achieve international targets for reducing rates of infant and maternal mortality in developing countries and slowing down the spread of transmissible diseases. The health campaigners say that much more must be done, and quickly, in order to reach the targets.

TB Alert, International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Interact Worldwide will be working together in the UK as part of the European Network for Global Health, a network co-ordinated by ActionAid International and supported by a $10.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The network is launching simultaneously in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and the UK with a remit to urge rich country governments to do more.

Next year, 7 July, (07/07/07) represents the mid-point for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015, which were agreed to by the world’s governments in 2000.

The MDGs call for a two-thirds reduction in children and infant deaths, and a three-quarters reduction in deaths relating to pregnancy and childbirth, by 2015. However, 10.6m under-fives continue to die each year, and in some countries, one in 6 women still die as a result of pregnancy. Reductions in the number of new HIV, malaria, and TB infections are also a long way from being achieved.

Caroline Haworth, director of policy and programmes at Interact Worldwide said: “We will be working to make sure that the UK government knows that they have to do much more to fulfil their commitments to the health targets set out in 2000. We hope that the UK will act now to achieve a more equitable world by 2015.”

Simon Wright, Project Manager for the new European Network for Global Health, said: “The European Union and its member states are already major donors to support development, but they need to do much more to rescue the MDG targets. We are coming together as organisations across Europe for concerted action to press all our governments to act to reduce the scandalous death rates in poor countries.”

Ends

Note to Editors:

1. The consortium led by ActionAid International comprises the following partner organisations:

  • Belgium - Marie Stopes International, European Public Health Alliance, Stop AIDS Alliance.
  • Spain - AIDS and Development Platform, The Spanish Family Planning Federation.
  • Italy - Centro di Educazione Sanitaria e Tecnologie Appropriate Sanitarie, Associazione Italiana Donne per lo Sviluppo.
  • France - Médecins du Monde, Global Health Advocates.
  • Germany - Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, and Terre des Hommes.
  • UK - TB Alert, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Interact Worldwide.

2. For further information contact: John Coventry, ActionAid UK press team 0207 561 7633.

3. The Millennium Development Goals

In September 2000, the largest-ever gathering of Heads of State ushered in the new millennium by adopting the UN Millennium Declaration, endorsed by 189 countries, with goals to be reached by 2015. Three out of eight goals, eight of the 16 targets and 18 of the 48 indicators relate directly to health, with the main targets:

Fewer women dying in childbirth; More children surviving the early years of life; Addressing pressing needs in relation to HIV/AIDS; Making sure people have access to life-saving drugs; Better health - in all its forms - making a major contribution to the reduction of poverty.

Key Recommendations of Health in the Millennium Development Goals:

To strengthen health systems and ensure they are equitable. To ensure that health is prioritized within overall development and economic policies. To develop health strategies that respond to the diverse and evolving needs of countries. To mobilize needed resources for health in poor countries. To improve the quality of health data.