Why are human resources important
Health and the millennium development goals
Most developing countries will not reach the health Millennium Development Goals, says WHO
Authors:
; WHO
Publisher:
World Health Organization , 2005
This report from the World Health Organization (WHO) asserts that if trends established in the 1990s continue, the majority of developing countries will not achieve the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. None of the poorest regions of the developing world is on track to meet the child mortality target, while maternal mortality has only declined in countries where levels were already relatively low. Targets for reversing HIV and AIDS and reducing incidence of malaria, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases, remain a huge challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. Asking why improvements in health have been so slow, the report identifies weak and inequitable health systems - particularly a crisis in the health workforce and an urgent need for sustainable health financing - as major obstacles.
Key recommendations include strengthening health systems and ensuring they are equitable; prioritising health within overall development and economic policies; and increasing investment in health for poor countries. Future health challenges in developing countries are also highlighted. These include the growing burden of non-communicable disease and the resulting “double burden” of ill-health, the effects of the “nutrition transition” towards unhealthy Western-style diets, the impact of globalisation on the spread of disease and migration of the health workforce, and the need for universal access to sexual and reproductive health services.
