| |
Five years on from the Gleneagles G8 commitments to double aid to Africa and cancel debts from some of the world’s poorest countries, it’s a good time to take stock of what’s been achieved, and what the role for G-clubs is in fighting poverty.
The G20 has replaced the G8 as the world’s most important club for leaders to get together and make promises – and so it’s with great interest that I went along to a conference at Chatham House last Wednesday to hear about what’s next for Global Health and the G20.
Although the event was held under Chatham House Rule – meaning that I can’t say who said what – there are four ideas that come out that are worth sharing:
Meetings make big ideas possible. It’s ten years since the G8 floated an idea that went onto become the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and there was consensus that leaders meetings are good chance to get momentum behind big ideas that can make a real difference. But…
Promise without consequences. The big criticism that you’ll often hear about the G8, G20 and organisations like the UN is that they can’t deliver on their promises. No one is bound by law to deliver on their promises, and that means that as often as not, governments will deliver late, in part, or renege completely.
Government Plus. One risk of meetings like the G8 and the G20 is that they get political leaders together, but give no role to the rest of society – business and civil society (charities, unions, churches) in particular. That means that their thinking can be somewhat limited, and there was a clear view that improving global health is going to need more than just governments.
Health Systems not just Vaccines. There were some great arguments – sorry, ‘robust discussions’ – amongst participants about how to find the right balance between making whole healthcare systems work better, or picking off diseases one at a time.
In really practical terms, the ideas that were being discussed, and which you’ll likely hear more about in coming months are:
- Global Fund replenishment. The Global Fund is passing the hat around over the coming months to fund its work for the next three years. To keep doing things as they are now, they’ll need $10 billion – but they want to do more, and so are seeing if they can secure $17 billion. The huge gains we’ve made in fighting HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria depend on it.
- Eradicating Polio. There’s a real chance to eradicate polio in the next 10 years, as there are just four countries who still suffer from the disease. But, it’s going to take a concerted effort and a lot of political will, and could cost quite a bit of money. On the flipside, the long-term savings are huge as we’d no longer need to immunise people against the disease.
- Maternal and Child Health. The focus on specific diseases has often led us to forget who the biggest victims of poor health are – they’re the poorest of the poor, and usually, that means mums and kids under five. There’s a big push to get more money, evidence and attention into this area – some of which we’ll be profiling on our blog in coming weeks as we look at the millennium development goals.
|
Design by 
