Health

The Challenges and the Changes

There are 11 million children and young people in England . Every year globally, approaching the same number of children die before the age of five - that is nearly 10 million children.

Almost half of all deaths among children under five occur in sub-Saharan Africa , which includes Burkina Faso and Mali . Just five diseases account for half of all these deaths. The diseases are:

• Pneumonia
• Diarrhoea
• Malaria
• Measles
• AIDS

What is shocking is that most of these lives could be saved through low-cost measures like immunization, mosquito nets, antibiotics and a proper diet. Better care for mothers and babies before and after birth would reduce one third of deaths that occur in the first days of life. To find out all about what health items save lives play the Global Health game

But it’s not all glum and doom, the number of children dying has fallen, in 1990 it was 13 million. With a global effort and partnership between rich and poor countries the MDG Target 5 to reduce by two thirds by 2015, the under-five mortality rate can be achieved. But it means more than halving the present death rate down to just over 4 million.

The Millennium Development Goals and Healthcare

Reduce child mortality

Improve maternal health

Combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases

A global fund to fight killer diseases

A Global Fund was created in 2002 to provide developing countries with the resources they need to fight killer diseases. Although this is the most important fund for tackling health-related problems in the developing world, it is questionable whether it will provide enough money to meet the targets of the Millennium Development Goals

In 2007 the G8 agreed to increase funding from rich countries to help make it possible to fight the common diseases that kill so many people in developing countries. The leaders agreed a figure of $6 - $8 billion per year for the Global Fund.

Oxfam, a leading charity in tackling global poverty, doesn’t feel that this is enough. The organisation commented that the figures quoted by G8 only means $3 billion extra in aid by 2010. This means that the G8 will fall short of the pledge it made in 2005.

Glossary

G8 – An international forum for the governments of eight countries that represent 65% of the world’s total economy.

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