Global Health Policy

The newly released new child mortality data by UNICEF has findings that are encouraging yet still worrisome: the world has made progress in reducing child deaths globally; yet each day some 19,000 children die every day largely from preventable causes. USAID highlighted this new publication to remind the world of its “Child Survival Call to Action: Ending Preventable Child Deaths,” co-hosted by USAID, India, Ethiopia, and others on June 14 and 15. Before we completely forget what happened in mid-June, we revisit the event and its desired goals by taking a closer look at the event’s “Roadmap”. Bottom line: The Child Survival Call to Action does not bring much new money or knowledge, but it brings some laudable political attention and a promising emphasis on delivery and accountability. But without more systematic attention from countries and donors, the new child survival agenda risks being another same-old global-health flavor-of-the-month, potentially crowded out by competing priorities in global health.

… where’s the action?

The World Bank has said all the right things about putting its substantial influence behind sensible programs that generate revenue, cut health costs and save lives. So far, however, it has done little on a simple measure that would cost-effectively achieve all three of these goals: raising tobacco taxes.

I recently had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting between donor and high-level Ministry of Health representatives in an African country. In a white-washed public health center with high ceiling fans whirring the tension-filled air, I witnessed a scenario that sadly demonstrated that country ownership and the process of re-thinking global health partnerships is perhaps a long way off. The donors were irate that some money they had given to a common fund had been misappropriated, and they wanted to pull all of their money out. The ministry officials who had survived the scandal were frustrated. In their view, they had done well to identify and fire the accused--they felt that the ministry should get credit that their system works to catch corrupt officials. Not a new story, but one that got me thinking about how findings from the HIV/AIDS Monitor’s research in Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia could shed some light on the issue of country ownership in the context of new U.S. global health priorities.

Reuters reported Wednesday that a group of wealthy countries including Italy, Britain, Canada and Norway will announce in Rome on Friday a $1.5 billion advance market commitment to purchase vaccines to prevent pneumococcus, which kills more than a than a million kids each year in the developing world, through illnesses such as pneumonia and meningitis.