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Thank you, Ambassador Simonovic,
Fifteen years ago I chaired the World Commission on
Environment and Development. That Commission's Report, "Our
Common Future", placed people firmly at the centre of
development.
The Goals for global development agreed at the
Millennium Summit remind us of the work which lies ahead. The
children, the women and the men who make up the poorest half of our
world's population must now come to the centre of international
attention.
The recent Report by the Commission on
Macroeconomics and Health, chaired by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, shows
that if world leaders are serious about reducing poverty and fostering
development, they have to invest in health. And, in its Report, the
Commission showed how health investments can be managed in order to
achieve the best results. There is simply no way for poor countries to
emerge from poverty if their people remain trapped by an enormous
disease burden. The new Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria gives us a new mechanism to really start scaling up to another
level of investment.
A study of the global figures shows that three
diseases; HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are overwhelmingly
important. Maternal and child conditions, reproductive ill-health,
injuries and the health consequences of tobacco, are also global
health priorities. Any serious attempt to reduce the disease burden
faced by the world's poorest people must concentrate on all of these
conditions. Any serious attempt to stimulate global economic and
social development, and so to promote human security, must be
successful in addressing the burdens caused by AIDS, malaria and TB.
For example, if we reach the Millennium Goals to
halve TB and malaria mortality, and significantly reduce new HIV
infections within the next 15 years, it will make a massive difference
to the prospects of poor populations, particularly in Africa. Unless
this happens, Africa will face unprecedented economic and social
devastation.
Of the burden caused by the three diseases,
HIV/AIDS makes up just over half, both in terms of healthy life years
lost, and mortality. Malaria and TB share the rest on a roughly equal
basis. It means that more than 90 million healthy life years are lost
to HIV each year, 40 million to malaria and nearly 36 million to TB.
More than five and a half million lives are lost every year to the
three diseases alone.
If we look in different regions, we see substantial
differences. The AIDS problem is overwhelming in Africa , but malaria
is also dominating. TB is predominantly linked to the large prevalence
of AIDS. In South-East Asia, East Asia and the Pacific and the
Americas, TB plays a much more important role, while malaria is a much
smaller problem. AIDS, of course, is a considerable factor in all
regions.
Africa stands out both in absolute and relative
terms. More than three quarters of AIDS deaths are found in
Sub-Saharan Africa, 90% of malaria deaths and 22% of TB deaths,
despite the fact that Sub-Saharan Africa contains just over ten per
cent of the global population. South and South-East Asia are the
second largest areas of disease. East Asia's burden is less extreme,
although still significant. The Caribbean's AIDS situation compares
with that of Africa's, and needs special attention within the American
Region.
The Commissioners' Report argues convincingly for a
comprehensive, global approach to development assistance, which
underlines the need for investments towards concrete goals within
specific time-frames. I believe it will strongly influence how
development assistance is prioritized and coordinated - for health,
but also beyond.
It is, in fact, the first detailed costing made of
the resources needed to reach key goals set in the Millennium
Declaration, and in this respect, it provides lessons for the costing
of some of the other goals of the Declaration.
During the last few days, the World Economic Forum
provided an excellent opportunity for Heads of State and Ministers
from developing countries, Ministers from countries offering
international development assistance, together with Senior Executives
of private corporations and NGOs, to focus on the Millennium
Development Goals and the implications of the Sachs Commission Report.
Many of the Forum's participants realized the importance of making
existing health interventions more widely available and thus scaling
up our collective response to global ill-health. They saw that this
calls for a coordinated effort that involves a range of sectors and
several company CEOs committed themselves to intensified efforts.
Chairman,
I am delighted that so many busy people have given
up time to join us all here today for this new kind of ECOSOC
gathering. I look forward to a focussed discussion on how we can best
support the different interested parties that seek to scale up their
collective action for health. We know that many of them do not come
from the formal health sector - this increasing commitment is
inspiring but it also presents us with many challenges.
Most of the effort will be undertaken within
developing countries as they seek ways to increase their own
investments in health and make the best use of development assistance.
At the same time, they have to make difficult decisions on trade and
on priorities in other non-health sectors that may have a bearing on
health outcomes, with the support of the UN system.
Indeed, we who work in the inter-governmental
system have an important role in supporting and facilitating such
processes. Together we must make available the knowledge, the
information and the expertise necessary to help all countries make the
right decisions. At the same time, we must ensure that development
assistance is effectively used to support country action.
Additional resources are vital. But if they are to
be used effectively, we must catalyze new partnerships that harness
the energy and creativity of the private sector and civil society in
the search for health solutions. This brings me to the four themes of
today's meeting.
The first is the effective stewardship of
health systems, in ways that enable different interested parties to
make an optimal contribution. There is no substitute for informed and
enlightened stewardship by all committed to development action.
The second is the need for all parties - the UN
system and international organizations, working with national
governments and civil society - to work better together to increase
the impact of the limited development assistance that is
available.
The third is the need for continued international
cooperation to reduce prices on lifesaving medicines and equipment and
to ensure new research. This knowledge, and the products resulting
from its application, represents global public goods.
The fourth is to focus on the complex issue of
ensuring that all people are able to access the medicines,
diagnostics and other commodities they need for good health.
I look forward to your contributions - which, we
suggest, you try to limit to 3 minutes each in the first instance.
Thank you.
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