21 January 2002

World Health Organization Urged to Spend More on Poverty

Board says WHO should help members achieve health goals

The World Health Organization's (WHO) executive board says the agency should spend more to fight poverty, according to a January 21 WHO press release.

At its 109th session ending January 18, the executive board also adopted a resolution calling for WHO to develop a strategy to help member states achieve the goals of the U.N. Millennium Declaration in the areas of child, adolescent and reproductive health. Another resolution adopted at the meeting calls on WHO members to increase resources to respond to HIV/AIDS, according to the release.

The board also urged WHO members to increase access to drugs, especially those on the WHO list of "essential drugs," the release said. It asks WHO's director-general to promote market-based "differential pricing" of medicines for high-, middle- and low-income countries, it said.

The board endorsed a new global strategy for infant and young child feeding, the release said.

Following is the text of the WHO press release:

21 January 2002

WORLD READY TO SCALE UP INVESTMENTS IN HEALTH

The Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed the Organization's work to drastically scale up health investments to fight poverty.

"The Executive Board has tied together the UN Millennium Declaration's development goals with the recommendations of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health and the emerging structure of the Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria," Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, WHO Director-General said today. "In doing so, it has moved us several steps closer to a global strategy for investments in health."

The 109th session of the WHO's Executive Board ended in Geneva on 18 January. The 32 Board members, under the chairmanship of Mrs Myriam Abel of Vanuatu, gave strong support for the work to rapidly make the Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) operational.

The Fund, which so far has commitments of US$1.5 billion, will hold its first Board Meeting in Geneva next week (28 January), where it will call for funding proposals from eligible countries. WHO is providing administrative support for the secretariat, which is located in Geneva.

WHO's Executive Board also endorsed the recommendations contained in a report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. The report examines in detail the links between health, poverty reduction and economic growth. The Commission estimates that, by 2015-2020, additional spending on health of US$66 billion per year could generate at least a US$360 billion increase in economic growth -- a six-fold return on investment. The report also outlines a strategy for improving access to life-saving medicines including differential pricing schemes, extension of legislation on "orphan" drugs and broader licensing arrangements.

The Executive Board emphasized the need to develop the political commitment to health shown over the past two years into effective programmes on the ground. It adopted a resolution calling on WHO to develop a strategy to assist Member States in achieving the developing goals of the UN Millennium Declaration in the areas on child and adolescent health and reproductive health. In another resolution, the Board called on WHO Member States to, among other actions, "act upon the political commitment expressed at the UN special session on HIV/AIDS [which took place in New York in June 2001]" and to increase global and national resources for the response to HIV/AIDS.

Seeing wider access to life-saving medicines as a key part of improving health care for the world's poorest populations, The Board urged WHO Member States to increase access to medicines, particularly the ones on WHO's Model List of Essential Drugs. It also requests the Director-General to "advocate the necessary action world-wide to promote a market-based differential pricing for essential medicines between high-, middle- and low-income countries." The Board members spoke of the need to strengthen the Expert Committee on the Use of Essential Drugs, ensuring its independence from external pressures at all times.

During its session, the Board endorsed a new global strategy for infant and young child feeding, stressing in particular the need for exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life.

In its week's work, the Executive Board adopted 22 Resolutions. Many of these will now be considered for adoption as World Health Organization policy by the World Health Assembly, which meets from 13 to 18 May in Geneva. A full list of these Resolutions and other Executive Board documents can be found at www.who.int/gb

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