The report includes a Mothers’ Index, which identifies the best and worst countries to be a mother and child-based on a comprehensive look at child and maternal well-being in 140 countries. To succeed in saving the lives of children under 5, Save the Children recommends that countries: ensure the well-being of mothers; invest in basic, low-cost solutions to save children’s lives; make health care available to the poorest and most vulnerable mothers and children; increase funding and improve strategies to provide basic, effective, lifesaving services to those who most need it.
Equity in Health
State of the World’s Mothers Report
Save the Children Fund , 2007
3rd session of the African Union Conference of Ministers of Health, Johannesburg, South Africa
African Union, 2007
The theme for this conference was: “Strengthening of Health Systems for Equity and Development in Africa”, with emphasis on the Africa Health Strategy 2007-2015. Africa has made significant strides in certain areas of social and economic development but has the potential to achieve even more if it can overcome the large burden of disease which continues to be a barrier to faster development. This has prompted the African Union Ministers of Health to harmonise all existing health strategies by drawing this Africa Health Strategy which Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and other regional entities and Member States can use to enrich their strategies, depending on their peculiar challenges. The Strategy neither competes with nor negates other health strategies but seeks to complement other specific and detailed strategies by adding value from the unique perspective of the African Union. It provides a strategic direction to Africa’s efforts in creating better health for all.
8th meeting of the Africa Partnership Forum (APF)
Humphries R: Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), May 2007
The 8th meeting of the Africa Partnership Forum (APF) took place from 22-23 May 2007 in Berlin, just two weeks before the G8 Heiligendamm summit. Participants included Personal Representatives for the G8-Africa Process coming from G8 and OECD countries and from African member states of the NEPAD steering committee. Participants discussed four key areas affecting Africa: investment, gender, climate change, and peace and security. Through the intensive dialogue between the G8 Africa Personal Representatives and the African partners in preparing the APF, this year’s APF developed substantive recommendations for the G8 summit as well as for the AU summit, thus following up the joint work on the G8 Africa Action Plan adopted in Kananaskis in 2002.
Further details: /newsletter/id/32329
Equity in health and healthcare in Malawi: analysis of trends
Zere E, Moeti M, Kirigia J, Mwase T, Kataika E: BMC Public Health 7:78, 15 May 2007
Growing scientific evidence points to the pervasiveness of inequities in health and health care and the persistence of the inverse care law, that is the availability of good quality healthcare seems to be inversely related to the need for it in developing countries. Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals is likely to be compromised if inequities in health/healthcare are not properly addressed.
WHA closes: Agreement reached on influenza virus sharing, intellectual property
noticias.info: 23 May 2007, Geneva
The World Health Assembly (WHA), the supreme decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), wrapped-up its sixtieth session today, reaching last-minute agreement on two key resolutions on Pandemic influenza preparedness and Public health, innovation and intellectual property. More than 2400 people from WHO's 193 Member States, nongovernmental organizations and other observers attended the meeting which took place from 14-23 May.
Conference Resolutions of the 44th Regional Health Ministers' Conference in east, central and southern Africa
ECSA: Arusha Tanzania, 12-16 March 2007
The 44th Health Ministers' Conference meeting was attended by Hon Ministers of Health and senior officials from member states in east, central and southern Africa, health experts, and collaborating partners. The theme of the conference was “Scaling up cost effective interventions to attain the Millennium Development Goals”. The conference approved and adopted resolutions based on the sub themes of the conference that are presented in this document.
From "Marvelous Momentum" to Health Care for All
Farmer P: Foreign Affairs, 2007
The last quarter of the twentieth century saw little investment in international health or in the health problems of the world's poor. Over the past few years, as Laurie Garrett notes, "driven by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, a marvelous momentum for health assistance has been built and shows no signs of abating." But after this upbeat introduction, Garrett proceeds to lay out the perils associated with this new momentum, chief among them that an influx of AIDS money has drawn attention away from other health problems of the poor, weakened public health systems, contributed to brain drain, and failed to reach those most in need.
Equity, by what measure?
Houston S: Health Promotion Journal of Australia 17:206-10, 2006
Equity has in many instances been framed around the notion of fairness. But the metric used to determine what is fair leaves some people at a disadvantage because the things that they value are not always taken properly into account. The debate about judging equity – about measuring fairness – needs to find the conceptual and methodological space to allow the voices and claims of the other to be heard.
The role of health promotion: Between global thinking and local action
King L: Health Promotion Journal of Australia 17:196-9, 2006
The persistence of health inequities provides an ongoing challenge for health promotion. The dictum 'think globally, act locally' fails to recognise the significance of infrastructure and policy in linking global issues and local practices as a means of addressing health inequities. This article is in the form of a commentary and opinion, and final comments include that Health promotion needs to beg, borrow and build political and media advocacy skills if it is to go beyond local demonstration projects and have the capacity to promote population health and address health inequities.
A lens on the World Social Forum
Editor, EQUINET newsletter
In the February newsletter we carried stories of the World Social Forum held in January 2007 and called for comment and report from those who attended. In this issue we carry three of the responses, that give a different set of lenses on and expectations of the WSF. They signal aspirations and contradictions that seemed to resonate across the WSF. The WSF offered all the potential of an agenda of social justice, international solidarity, gender equality, peace and defence of the of the environment. This made reports of big business sales of food, corporate signs and overshadowing of local people by international organisations harsh and visible contradictions. But the WSF also gave visibility and support to struggles for health and an opportunity to amplify the call on African Union member states to meet their commitments in health, like the pledge to spend 15% of government spending on health. If the “battle for ideas” is central to the building of alternatives, the WSF taught that it is not only the content of the ideas that count, but who owns and voices them.