WHO Welcomes G8 Agreement To Annual Reviews Of Commitments To Progress In Global Health

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 10 Jul 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the agreement announced in Japan by G8 leaders and their commitment to full, annual measurements of progress in meeting their pledges to improve global health.

"Many noble commitments have been made over the last decade to support health," said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan. "And now G8 nations are saying they will ensure an accounting of those promises every year. This is commendable. WHO and its partners will do everything possible to support their efforts."

The G8 also agreed that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by the UN in 2000, should be supported in a comprehensive manner. In particular, G8 noted the need:

- to greatly increase progress on maternal, newborn and child health;
- to reaffirm, sustain and extend previous commitments on HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as on polio and neglected tropical diseases; and
- to strengthen health systems, including social health protection and building an adequate health workforce with a voluntary code of practice regarding ethical recruitment of health workers.

"The G8 has taken an important step to relieve suffering and improve the health of the world's most vulnerable people," said Dr Chan. "I applaud the strong commitment of all G8 leaders. I would also like to thank the Government of Japan for its leadership of this meeting."

http://www.who.int