Annan Calls For Renewed Efforts To Improve Health Care Systems In The Developing World
New York, Jun 30 2005
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for serious efforts to build affordable and efficient health
systems in the developing world, particularly in Africa, which will require 1 million new health workers to meet
internationally agreed development targets for the 21st century.
"[The] connections between health, development and security have become increasingly clear…and it has become equally
clear that health systems around the world are nowhere near equipped to deal with the challenges facing them," Mr. Annan
said in an address at a dinner marking the 500th anniversary of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
>From established epidemics like HIV/AIDS to newly emergent diseases such as SARS and bird flu, health threats on
multiple fronts have proved that global cooperation in the health sector is no longer a choice, but an imperative, said
Mr. Annan.
"It is clear that to address these challenges, we must make new and serious efforts to build health systems in the
developing world – systems that afford universal access," Mr. Annan said, stressing that at the core of that mission was
the need to remedy the acute shortage of health workers in so many developing countries.
He noted that Africa alone would require 1 million new health workers to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
the ambitious set of targets for slashing a host of socio-economic ills afflicting the world by 2015. "Without such a
dramatic increase in capacity, paediatric immunizations would not be administered, curable diseases would go untreated
and women would keep dying in childbirth."
"As fellows of the Royal College, you already play an important part. By building on the exceptional standards and
traditions of Scottish medicine, by taking in colleagues form overseas and assisting them with training and clinical
placement, you are making a valuable contribution to the work to strengthen health systems around the world," the
Secretary-General said.
Noting that the College was celebrating its 500th anniversary, Mr. Annan said the UN was in the midst of celebrating its
60th year. In September, world leaders were expected to gather at UN Headquarters in New York for the "largest summit
the world has ever seen" to tackle head on some of the most pressing challenges of the day, including how to defeat
poverty and ensure broader security and human rights for all.
While progress is possible, it will depend on the will of governments, such as the Group of Eight industrialized
countries (G8), which will meet near Edinburgh in Gleneagles next week, Mr. Annan said, adding: "And it will depend on
the engagement of groups and individuals such as you."
ENDS