The Alliance asks Europe to do more to achieve the health Millennium Development Goals
19 April 2007
The Alliance has joined Action for Global Health, a new powerful voice from within Europe advocating for global health and the achievement of the health Millennium Development Goals.
Action for Global Health, which started work in October 2006, brings together for one of the first times a partnership of 15 NGOs from across Europe to conduct coordinated actions in Brussels, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK aimed at improving government, NGO and private sector commitments to addressing healthcare in the world’s poorest countries.The five year project, funded by the Gates Foundation and coordinated by ActionAid International, is now underway. Action for Global Health will focus on cross-cutting themes that are essential for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which 188 countries signed up to in September 2000.
Specifically it will address: the urgent need to increase investment in global health; financing for research and development into new tools (diagnostics, drugs and vaccines); taking account of gender issues in the planning, financing and execution of health services; and supporting the strengthening of health systems to scale up access to primary healthcare.
By engaging with this project, the Alliance will be able to exert greater influence on donor governments across Europe to increase funding and improve policies that will enable the achievement of the health MDGs, including MDG 6 which aims to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria by 2015.
The mid-way point for the 2015 target – 07/07/07 – is rapidly approaching. This provides governments worldwide with an opportunity to take stock, check their course and redouble their efforts. Globally things aren’t looking good. If investment and effort are maintained at current levels the health MDGs will not be met in much of the developing world. An opportunity to save many lives and to build the foundation for a better future for the citizens of developing countries will be lost. Action for Global Health believes the UK and Europe could be doing more.
The Alliance’s work on this project is coordinated by Elaine Ireland (Global Health Advocacy Officer) and Marielle Hart (Head of European Policy). In the UK, the Alliance is also working in partnership with Interact Worldwide and TB-Alert. In Brussels, Stop AIDS Alliance is working closely with Marie Stopes International and the European Public Health Alliance to achieve the aims of the project.
For further information on Action for Global Health and to explore ways that you can contribute, please contact Elaine Ireland (eireland@aidsalliance.org).
