Gordon Brown Set to Release Global Health Coordination Plan
Under the plan, donor countries would commit to coordinating their assistance to poor countries. They would help countries improve their health systems, and they would provide aid to the governments of poor countries in a flexible and reliable manner. In return, poor countries receiving aid would strengthen planning and accountability, while better linking aid to real results on the ground.
The plan, known as the International Health Partnership, was developed by Brown together with a number of African governments, UN agencies, and other donors.
"This initiative has tremendous promise, and we congratulate the Prime Minister for his leadership on this issue," stated Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "We also call on the US government and other donors to give the plan their full backing."
"However, unless financing is greatly increased, including by the Prime Minister, the International Health Partnership will fall flat," stated Zeitz. "The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is a critically important way donors can achieve better coordination and improve health systems, and yet the Prime Minister has not made clear what his government will pledge to the Fund at the upcoming donor meeting in Berlin."
At the G8 Summit last June, Brown and the other G8 leaders agreed to a tripling in the size of the Global Fund. The Global AIDS Alliance has joined with the UK's Stop AIDS Campaign in calling on the UK government to make a minimum three-year pledge totaling $1.43 billion (approximately £703 million) at the Berlin meeting, September 26-28.
There is no question that countries need predictable and effective aid to win the fight against AIDS and other diseases. Mozambique, for instance, has only about 500 doctors to serve the entire country, and will need to multiply its health workforce seven-fold in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. An estimated 50% of medical equipment in developing countries sits unused, either because spare parts are missing or health workers lack proper training. Countries also face weaknesses in drug procurement and distribution systems, diagnostic services, coordination of services, and information and monitoring systems.
"For the Brown plan to work, it will need to do more than include major donors like the US and Japan," stated Zeitz. "We also need to make sure the partnership includes civil society in its governance, as the Global Fund has done," said Zeitz. "And the operation of the International Health Partnership must be clearly tied to outcomes already agreed upon, in particular, universal access to all HIV/AIDS services by 2010."
"Participating donor countries will also need to take determined action to compel the International Monetary Fund to fall in line in the global fight against AIDS," said Zeitz. "The IMF must be forced to end its imposition of inflation and budget deficit targets that have the effect of limiting health spending."