Health equity in economic and trade policies

Following a meeting with trade ministers from the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries with the European Union (EU) in Brussels Wednesday, the European Commission said existing modalities supporting trade preferences would no longer be in force from January 1, 2008.

This article provides a detailed analysis of the Rwanda-Canada use of the system created under the August 2003 Decision for the import/export of pharmaceutical products manufactured under compulsory license. It will describe the various procedures that the importing country, the generic pharmaceutical company and the exporting country have to go through, identifying lessons from the experience. The precedent that may be established is critical to the continued utility and functionality of the system under the August 2003 Decision.

In recent years, there have been increasing concerns about macroeconomic policy constraints interfering with the ability of many African governments to increase health sector spending and getting access to urgently needed funds for HIV/AIDS human resource development. The International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and, in particular, the IMF have been accused of undermining health care systems in many developing countries through conditionalities that favour budgetary ceilings as a panacea for macroeconomic stability. The economic policies sometimes affect overall spending, resulting in caps on the health sector, salary and recruitment of health workers and the acceptance of large amounts of financial assistance. AFRODAD has conducted a two country study aimed at looking at the links between macroeconomic frameworks provided by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the social spending, and in particular, the fight against HIV/AIDS in Ghana and Malawi. This study reviewed the major channels through which fiscal and monetary policies impact on public expenditure frameworks and how this, in turn, affects the ability of the countries under study to design and implement public programmes concerning those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and assessing the debt positions of the case studies to see how the HIV/AIDS has impacted on their financial portfolios and planning abilities or vice-versa.

African countries have called for greater voice in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including not only an increase in formal voting power and representation at its decision-making bodies but also in the diversity of its staff members, to better represent their interests at the institution. In statements during the IMF’s Annual Meetings, African finance ministers and central bank governors have reiterated their calls for at least a tripling of basic votes as an outcome of the current quota and voice reform process to protect the voting shares of low-income countries. They also called for a meaningful and expeditious increase in their representation at the Executive Board, including an amendment to the Fund’s Articles of Agreement to enable Executive Directors representing large constituencies to appoint more than one Alternate Executive Directors.