INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCILS AND
SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
(AICESIS)
INTERVENTION
by Mr. Janos TOTH
President of AICESIS
During the UN ECOSOC Plenary Assembly on the topic « Public
Health »
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Geneva – 8 July 2009
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Ladies and gentlemen,
AICESIS's report looked at public health in terms of the economic and social development of
countries worldwide.
At the heart of the HEALTH-DEVELOPMENT issue there is more, of course, than just health,
but what can we achieve without health, which is determined by interactions between our
physical and socio-economic environment, demographic and biological factors, and national
attitudes and habits?
This is why we at AICESIS believe that public health should be given absolute priority.
The facts, however, bring us up against the disturbing conclusion that, despite extensive
reform programmes currently under way in their health systems, health is a low priority for
governments in poor countries.
Health expenditure statistics on overall public spending in African and south-west Asian
countries speak for themselves. Developed countries spend between 3,000 and 6,000 US
dollars per capita on healthcare, whereas poor countries spend just 15 to 40 US dollars. In
other words poor countries spend 150 to 200 times less than developed countries on
healthcare.
At international level, too, the contrast in health situations is frustrating, with the rich in the
developed countries of the north dying as a result of an excess of medication, and people in
the poor countries of the south dying mostly for want of medication. This is a point that Mr.
Dermagne, President of the French ESC, has frequently brought to our attention.
Indeed, lack of healthcare and/or readily available essential medicines is at the root of
devastatingly tragic scenarios in southern countries, where a high number of infants die at
birth or before their first birthday and many young mothers die in childbirth.
The extremely high infant and maternal mortality rates - coupled with low life expectancy in
these countries – bear this out. No-one can fail to be touched by the suffering. Especially
when we know the facts: every second, 8 children die somewhere in the world, and every
hour, 68 women die, either in childbirth or for lack of basic wants in poor countries where
average life expectancy is only 40-50. By contrast, life expectancy is about 80 in developed
countries.
When compared with the north's glowing statistics, the alarming statistics from the south
provide a clear indication of the world's inequalities, especially when set against the major
political commitments and resolutions made by international cooperation and development
organisations over more than a decade.
Conscious of this global injustice, the International Association of Economic and Social
Councils and Similar Institutions (AICESIS), on behalf of international civil society and on
behalf of those people who "have no voice", has decided to appeal to the international
community at large, to developed countries and development organisations and institutions in
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particular, for equal treatment and solidarity with the world's poor in order to put an end to
this unacceptable, inhumane injustice, and to come together to build a fairer world where we
can all live in peace and security.
In order to achieve this, we need to resolve major public health challenges together, and focus
specifically on financing and managing health systems.
North and South must work together on the following six action points:
1. Ensure universal access to primary healthcare, by obtaining a firm commitment from
all governments at the highest level to increase public health spending and ensure
public health programmes and projects are implemented successfully, especially on
behalf of the poor. In order to do this we need to act. We need to act just as we
responded to the tsunami or other natural disasters, and take positive action just as we
have done more recently in the face of Mexican flu, or swine flu.
2. Eradicate the world's endemic diseases, such as poliomyelitis, malaria, cholera, and
substance abuse, not to mention emerging diseases like HIV/AIDS, diabetes, arterial
hypertension, cancer etc. and re-emerging diseases (tuberculosis, trypanosomiasis,
leprosy, yellow fever, etc.), which are becoming increasingly prevalent in world
epidemiology.
3. Put a stop to malnutrition by promoting nutrition and food security through specific
measures to combat hunger, illiteracy and poverty throughout the world.
4. Guarantee universal access to safe drinking water.
5. Combat poor urban and rural hygiene.
6. Work to eradicate the production and sale of out-of-date and fake medicines, and to
stamp out corruption in the healthcare sector.
Policies for decentralising health services and giving more responsibility to local authorities
in this domain should be applied rigorously and efficiently in all poor countries by providing
human, material and financial resources, accompanied by monitoring and evaluation
mechanisms at both national and international level.
We believe that it is only by working together in a pragmatic manner, in the North and the
South, that we can transform the universal health objective that we all share into reality.
Geneva, July 2009
President of AICESIS
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