Global Health – Networking for Better Outcomes Symposium, Welcome Address by Winston Cox, Deputy Secretary-General
Date: 22 Nov 2005
Cotoner Room, Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valleta, Malta, 22 November 2005
as PDF
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is a pleasure to welcome you all to this Symposium on Global Health: Networking for Better Outcomes. Malta , where Africa and Europe meet, is an especially well chosen and scenic venue for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) starting later this week.
Special thanks are due to the Commonwealth Dental Association, the Commonwealth Nurses Federation, the Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association and the Commonwealth HIV/AIDS Action Group - Para 55 for organising this meeting and inviting me to address you all.
As you know, the theme of this CHOGM is Networking for Development which reflects both the priority we place upon development, especially human development, and also reflects the nature of the Commonwealth since networking with partners is essential to everything we do. As a voluntary association of member states, we understand that our skills will be sharper if we share what we know, and that our message will be stronger if we speak with one voice.
We recognise the energy and expertise of the Commonwealth civil society and professional bodies represented at this People's Forum and know that the success of the Commonwealth Secretariat's programme in health is very dependent upon your commitment. My colleagues in our Health Section have asked me specially to thank you for your support; they depend upon it.
This has been a significant year for international development with many landmark events and processes including the 10-year reviews of global conferences in Cairo and Beijing, the Make Poverty History Campaign, Commission for Africa, G8 Summit with pledges of increased aid and debt cancellation, the World Summit reviewing the MDGs, now our own CHOGM and finally, in Hong Kong , the WTO trade talks in December.
If I were a farmer in one of the famine affected villages in Malawi , I would question the time and money spent by the well fed people who attended these meetings in 2005 to discuss the problem of my poverty. I would also question why so many promises made to me and others like me, are not being kept. Despite the rhetoric, major health related targets have been missed this year or are seriously off track. I will cite just two of many examples - first, 'the 3 by 5' HIV/AIDS target where 3 million HIV/AIDS sufferers in the developing world were promised Anti-Retroviral (ARV) treatment by the end of 2005. Treatment has reached 0.5 million, leaving 5 million people in Africa without the treatment they need.
The second is the continuing scandal of maternal mortality which continues to be the most off track MDG. As I have often said, if men faced pregnancy and childbirth, I believe the world would already have summoned the political will to implement the low cost solutions available to avert these unnecessary deaths in these circumstances necessary for the propagation of the human race. Since Commonwealth citizens bear 60% of global HIV/AIDS and 60% global maternal deaths, we cannot turn our backs on these issues. Action within the Commonwealth will determine global achievement of the MDGs.
As we near the end of 2005 we can report that some progress has been made at the global level - more resources have been pledged, the sexual and reproductive health and rights essential for tackling both HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality have been reaffirmed, more funding has been made available for Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART). But we need more progress and the task in 2006 and beyond will be delivery and translating these pledges into real progress on the ground.
In addition to the longstanding health crisis represented by the MDGs, we face new threats in the form of catastrophic natural disasters and new pandemic diseases. In the last 12 months, Commonwealth countries have been hit by a tsunami, by hurricanes and cyclones, by earthquake, flood and fire. It sounds almost like an Andrew Salkie quartet! Countries already struggling to provide basic health care for their people are set back years if not decades by the loss of both health infrastructure and personnel.
In the Commonwealth Secretariat, we are also alert to the possibility of a flu pandemic, because we are aware of the potential loss of life it could cause in Commonwealth countries with weak health systems, limited access to vaccines and treatment drugs, and populations whose health status is already compromised by poor nutrition and HIV/AIDS. The prospect of avian flu reminds us sharply that viruses and disease do not respect national borders. The spread of the SARS epidemic was an example of global partnerships working to good effect - I hope we can repeat that if an avian flu pandemic does occur.
Let me stress again the need to work together, pool our knowledge and our resources to deliver on the health promises of the MDGs, and to face the new health challenges coming over the horizon.
I wish you a productive meeting today and hope you will send a strong message to the Commonwealth Heads of Government that reminds everyone not to overlook the right to health of the Commonwealth's poorest and most marginalised peoples. We cannot forget them.
Thank you.
Download the speech: 
Global Health – Networking for Better Outcomes Symposium, Welcome Address by Winston Cox, Deputy Secretary-General
delicious
digg
reddit
facebook
stumbleupon
News feeds