What’s it about?
Health Heroes are everywhere, you just have to look. Whether they’re peer educators, community counsellors, health workers or government officials, their stories and experiences deserve to be heard, and leaders need to listen.
The three health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on child mortality, maternal and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases are amongst those most off-track.
Every three seconds a child dies from causes which are largely preventable; every day, 1000 women die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth related complications; every year over five million people will die from HIV/AIDS, TB or malaria. Although progress has been made, these stark statistics show there’s still a long way to go.
What do we want?
We are calling on the European Commission and the governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK to:
Contribute to improving child health, reproductive and maternal health, and strengthening the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria
Fulfil their funding commitments and pursue additional sources of funding for health in developing countries
Support developing countries to build strong health systems that serve the needs of the whole population
Tackle the global shortage of doctor, nurses and midwives and address unfair recruitment of health workers from developing countries
Support countries that want to remove healthcare fees, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable
Make sure civil society organisations are involved in decisions that affect the lives of the communities they represent
What can you do?
Get involved and support the campaign.
Click here to find out how.
What are the health MDGs?
The MDGs are a set of eight clear and measurable targets which, among other things, aim to end extreme poverty and improve health in developing countries. In 2000, leaders from around the world agreed to the goals and set a target date of 2015 to achieve them.
The three health-related MDGs are:
MDG 4:
Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate-
MDG 5:
a) Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio; b) Achieve universal access to reproductive health MDG 6:
a) Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS ; b) Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it; c) Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
