Genoa
20 July 2001

Notes for the Outreach Event - G8 Summit

Disease and poverty create a vicious cycle. Health is a key to prosperity. There has been a fundamental change in thinking. We saw it in Okinawa. Today, leaders do not talk about economic development or poverty reduction without talking about health.

• Bringing together the evidence

There is increasing evidence about the pay-off from greater investment in health. Toward the end of this year, we will have the report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, led by Jeff Sachs. It will further enhance the knowledge base about ways in which better health can help to transform the lives of poor people.

• From evidence to action

Already, evidence is being translated into plans of action. Health is a key component - as we have heard this evening - in the New Africa Initiative for Revival and Development in Africa. We warmly welcome this joint work, coming from African leaders. This the kind of framework around which development partners - governments, civil society, donors and technical agencies - can work effectively together to achieve key health outcomes - such as the number of mothers tested and treated to avoid the spread of HIV to their infants, the number of TB cases successfully treated and reductions in the level of illness deaths due to malaria.

• Debt relief and beyond

Debt relief is a valuable contribution in the fight against poverty. There is no doubt that preparing national poverty reduction strategies provides an important opportunity to re-focus and realign national spending around the things that really matter - combating AIDS and addressing the other health related causes of poverty. However, it is not just a question of spending more, we also have to spend wisely; and to be clear about what works in very concrete terms. We need to know what makes a difference, when it comes to translating policies into practical interventions.

• Investing in what works

We have seen that some developing countries have been able to reduce the incidence of HIV by 80%, to achieve a five fold reduction in TB deaths and a halving of malaria mortality. We know what works. Investing in health is sound economics.

• The Global Fund: a new way of working

Debt relief is one part of the resource picture, but as we agreed in Okinawa, we need to do more. The Global Fund for AIDS and Health is exciting - not just because of the resources that have been committed to it - but because it represents a new way of working. A fund for the future. Not a G8 fund, not a UN fund, but a genuinely international initiative - which focuses attention on the need to link additional resources to better and measurable health outcomes. It will help us scale up effective action, based on clear evidence.

• Establishing the Global Fund

We are now working with other partners to make the Global Fund a reality. This must be done in such a way that the Fund is (i) attractive to new and non-traditional donors - particularly those in the private sector. We need their money - yes, of course. But (ii) we also need their energy and their ideas. Equally important, the way the Fund operates must (iii) help to strengthen national development processes. We must ensure accountability to donor nations - but at the same time ensure that (iv) the Fund helps to build national and local capacity - in government and civil society. Lastly, we must recognize that (v) one size does not fit all: the way the Fund operates needs to be adapted to different national contexts - including countries emerging from complex emergencies.

• Health beyond the health sector

While we focus on the diseases that kill and maim millions, we must not forget the social and economic factors that increase peoples’ vulnerability to ill health. It should be self-evident, for example, that food safety is a health as well as an economic issue. In our globalizing world, trade and health are also inextricably linked - whether we are talking about essential medicines or tobacco sales. These are just two examples that are on your agenda tomorrow. But they illustrate the point that better health needs policy coherence across government agencies and ministries.