In a show of unity, advocates for all the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) joined together on Tuesday, 21 July, in a statement charging the leaders of G-8 countries with reneging on their commitments to health by chronically underfunding programs for AIDS, TB, maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health, and health systems strengthening across the globe.
The statement urged that each G-8 country pays 100% of the commitments they have made for 2010 including:
- universal access to AIDS treatment, prevention, and care
- full funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
- additional commitments made for maternal and child health and health systems strengthening.
According to the statement, the U.S. President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been flat funded for three years; the G-8 countries have underfunded the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by $4 to 9 billion; donor country promises to fund maternal and child health and sexual and reproductive health programs are wholly insufficient to the task; and no G-8 country has made sufficient commitments to contribute significantly to expanding and strengthening the health workforce, to supporting community-based prevention and care, or to strengthening health systems and health infrastructure.
"We are already seeing people die and families forced further into poverty by healthcare costs as a direct result of this global economic crisis," said Dr. Lola Dare, Executive Secretary of the African Council for Sustainable Health Development (ACOSHED). "The fickle policy decisions of world leaders and national government are further compounding these problems. The global health community is speaking with one voice on this urgent need. We can no longer permit the world to be distracted by false choices - between one disease and another, between a mother's life and that of her children, between treating sick people now, in their home communities, and building sustainable health systems for the future to deliver basic health care that can save lives."
"Investments now in HIV and health broadly are fundamental prerequisites for global development," said Julio Montaner, President of the International AIDS Society.
The full statement, signed by over 90 organizations, including the International AIDS Society, organizer of IAS 2009, is available here.
"We are already seeing people die and families forced further into poverty by healthcare costs as a direct result of this global economic crisis," said Dr. Lola Dare, Executive Secretary of the African Council for Sustainable Health Development (ACOSHED). "The fickle policy decisions of world leaders and national government are further compounding these problems. The global health community is speaking with one voice on this urgent need. We can no longer permit the world to be distracted by false choices - between one disease and another, between a mother's life and that of her children, between treating sick people now, in their home communities, and building sustainable health systems for the future to deliver basic health care that can save lives."
"Investments now in HIV and health broadly are fundamental prerequisites for global development," said Julio Montaner, President of the International AIDS Society.
The full statement, signed by over 90 organizations, including the International AIDS Society, organizer of IAS 2009, is available here.
Posts
Thanks for following along, Susan. The blog was created specifically to follow the IAS 2009 conference, which was recently held in Cape Town and we are still deciding how to continue it. The International AIDS Society, which hosted this blog, will be hosting others the future, including one for the next International AIDS Conference, to be held in Vienna in 2010. We're glad you found it useful. Please do stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteThe International AIDS Society, which hosted this blog, will be hosting others the future, including one for the next International AIDS Conference, to be held in Vienna in 2010.
ReplyDeleteTerm Paper