July 7, 2015
This year marks the end of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In the near future the health-related MDGs will be replaced by one overarching health goal in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, challenges remain, notably in keeping health high on the global agenda.
At a high-level panel in the beginning of June in Brussels, participants discussed ways to realise the right to health in the post-2015 development agenda and debated on how to strengthen health systems, focusing on sustainability and universal health coverage. The five key points discussed have been summarized in an online article by Dearbhla Crosse, communications officer at Action for Global Health. Action for Global Health is a cross-European network of health and development NGOs. Along with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Stop AIDS Alliance, it was one of the organizers of the June meeting.
These key points discussed during the panel were:
- International duty-bearers such as donors need to continue working with countries that transition from low- to middle-income status to ensure access to good quality health care
- New methods for financing and regulating health care systems are needed to ensure there are no financial barriers to access
- Greater investment in health facilities is required in rural areas to increase access and to train more health workers
- The right to health care for all means including marginalized and vulnerable populations
- Civil Society Organizations are integral to monitoring and implementing public health care and must be involved at all stages
They have been further elaborated in the article 5 ways to achieve the right to health for all by 2030, by Dearbhla Crosse, 19 June 2015