Global Health

Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were adopted by the United Nations in the year 2000 and which are to be achieved by the year 2015, have to do with health issues. Goal No 4 aims at reducing the mortality rate of children under 5 by two thirds. Goal No 5 aims at reducing the mortality of child-bearing mothers by three quarters. Goal No 6 aims at reducing infection and prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, and at making available medicine for HIV-infected people and sick patients.

Although great strides have been made in all three areas, the likelihood of actually achieving the envisaged goals by 2015 is shrinking year by year. Child mortality has been reduced since 1990 (the base line for the MDGs) from 10.6% to 8.3% (in 2007); births at which birth attendants were present, increased from 43% (1990) to 57% (2007); and the number of Aids patients receiving life-prolonging therapy increased from 0.4 millions (2001) to 2.2 millions (2007). But despite this progress much remains to be done. The respective goals will not be achieved by 2015, or only in part.

Here you’ll find more information and background material regarding Global Health:

Saving Children's Lives in Their First Thousand Days (PDF) 2011
Child Health Now - Together we can end Preventable Deaths (PDF) 2009
Global Future 2/2009 on Child Health: generating the will
German Development Policy on Health_WVG_BackgroundPaper.pdf
ActionForGlobalHealth_GER_2008_web.pdf
Strategies to reduce maternal, newborn and childdeath_in_AsiaPacific.pdf