Experts work to eliminate global health inequality and bring economic benefits - economy

Increasing investment in health to save lives and boost economic growth is the aim of Global Health...

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http://www.euronews.com/2013/12/06/experts-work-to-eliminate-global-health-inequality-and-bring-economic-benefits
Increasing investment in health to save lives and boost economic growth is the aim of Global Health 2035.

The report was launched by the African Development Bank, along with the Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, the Commission on Investing in Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It was published by The Lancet.

The hope is to save millions of people from contagious diseases and infant mortality over the next 20+ years.

The Global Health report is the work of 25 experts who are calling for research and development spending on health to be doubled to 4.4 billion euros annually.

Agnes Soucat - the Director of Human Development at the African Development Bank and a member of the Commission on Investing in Health - is one of the report's authors.

She told euronews: "By 2035 we can cut the number of preventable deaths by nearly 10 million, to reach what we call global convergence. That is people in the poorest countries having the same level of health care as people in richer countries."

Two-thirds of infant deaths from AIDS and tuberculosis now occur in middle-income countries in Africa as well as in China and India.

And in places like Tunisia - where health care accounts for six percent of GDP - 40 percent of health spending is by individuals and even then the quality of care is not good.

The Tunisian Health Minister Abdellatif Mekki said they are working to change that: "We must find ways to reduce the financial burden on Tunisian households. And so we've asked the government to double the Health Ministry's budget to help those people who are spending much more than they can afford."

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Invest in health, save lives,
and boost economic growth.

The aim of Global Health 2035 launched
by the African Development Bank,

along with the Center for
Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, and

the Commission on Investing in Health.

The hope is to save millions of
people from contagious diseases and

infant mortality over the next 20 years.

The global health report is the work of 25
experts who are calling for research and

development spending on health to be
doubled to almost 4.5 billion Euros

annually.

One of the report's authors says,
by 2035 we can cut the number

of preventable deaths by nearly 10 million
to reach what we call global convergence.

That is people in the poorest countries
having the same level of healthcare as

people in richer countries.

Two thirds of infant deaths from AIDS and
tuberculosis

now occur in middle income countries
in Africa, as well as China and India.

And in places like Tunisia where health
care accounts for 6% of GDP, 40% of

health spending is by individuals and
even then the quality of care is not good.

Tunisia's Health Minister told Euronews
that they are working to change that.

He said, we must find ways to reduce the
financial burden on Tunisia's households.

And so we've asked the government to
double the Health Ministry's budget

to help those people who are spending
much more than they can afford.

>> [FOREIGN]
>> Our correspondent says

the African Development Bank is one of the
authors of the Global Health 2035 report.

And like the other contributors,
it believes that expenditure on public

health should be 10 or 20 times bigger,
which would boost economic growth.

Now, they have to
convince the politicians.

>> [FOREIGN]