23 September 2009
Britain today helped secure a landmark £3.2 billion ($5.3 billion) international deal with Australia, France, Norway, Italy and others to radically improve health services across the developing world and save millions of lives, especially women and children.
The agreement will see six developing countries announce historic shifts towards free health care, resulting in at least 10 million more people gaining access to free care for the first time.
The announcements came at a UN event in New York co-hosted by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and World Bank President Robert Zoellick, at which Mr Brown urged countries to remove fees for health services and achieve the goal of universal health care.
Nepal, Malawi, Ghana, Liberia, Burundi and Sierra Leone announced that they would expand access to health services, giving ten million more people access to free health care.
The UK pledged £250 million ($400 million) as part of £600 million ($1 billion) of new commitments that will invest in struggling health systems through the International Financial Facility for Immunisation.
The UK and other donors also set out their commitment to support countries to scrap health ‘user fees’, in a move that could ensure millions of people will be able to visit doctors and nurses for free for services ranging from basic check-ups to life-saving treatment.
The Department for International Development has already committed to spend £6 billion ($9.8 billion) on health programmes between 2008 and 2015, which will be used to help support the transition to free health services. The Prime Minister also pledged to share UK expertise on creating free health services through a new ‘Centre for Progressive Health Financing’ which developing countries will be able to turn to for assistance.
The £3.2 billion ($5.3 billion) investment marks the culmination of the High Level Taskforce on International Innovative Finance for Health Systems and includes:
Speaking at the event, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:
"We cannot let mothers and children die through lack of finance and through the persistence of user fees. The £3.2 billion raised and the leadership of developing countries announcing the abolition of user fees mean that today is an historic step towards the goal of universal health care in Asia and Africa.”
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said:
"It is appalling that people are dying because they cannot afford the most basic healthcare. Poor health and poverty go hand-in-hand and so we must first improve people’s health if we are to improve their lives.
"This won’t happen overnight but we hope in the years ahead we will see a shift in approach that will revolutionise health services in the world’s poorest countries.”
1. The Prime Minister was co-hosting the UN high-level event: ‘Investing in Our Common Future: Healthy Women, Healthy Children’ alongside Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group on the first day of the UN General Assembly.
2. The event is the culmination of the High Level Taskforce on International Innovative Finance for Health Systems, established in September 2008 to raise money for health systems.
3. Full details of the announcements and Taskforce can be found at www.internationalhealthpartnership.net/en/taskforce
4. The Department for International Development estimates that most developing world countries could replace user fees with only modest increases in public spending, by as little as one dollar per person each year.
5. Studies have shown that these fees are a major barrier for the poorest families, leading to poor health and death from preventable illnesses whilst only generating 5% of health budgets.
6. Today’s announcements by developing countries will increase access to free healthcare for around ten million people:
Bookmark with:
What are Bookmarks?
