Anthony Lake discussed the urgent need to create a commodities market of life-saving medicines in the developing world, arguing that healthy children are good for business.
Urgency.
Every day thousands of children are dying of unnecessary causes.
In the 1980s, 36,000 children under five died each day from largely preventable causes. In 2011, it was 19,000. This dramatic drop came about through a combination of vaccination programs, nutrition programs, and better water and sanitation.
It should anger us that most of these 19,000 children die daily from causes we know how to prevent. We have the products and the potential to save these lives.
Commodities
By increasing access to thirteen overlooked life-saving medicines and health supplies, care-givers — including health workers — will have a better chance to reach the women and children in greatest need. This isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do. The Commission estimated that an ambitious scaling up of these 13 commodities over five years would cost less than US$2.6 billion and would save over 6 million lives. That is one of the ‘best buys’ in global health today.
Commodities that make pregnancy, childbirth and early childhood safe and healthy; commodities that make a difference but get relatively little attention.
Too often, markets are not shaped for the poor or for vulnerable children and women. Returns on investments can be too low for manufacturers to enter the market or sustain sufficient levels of production.
Fewer cases of malaria mean that adults are more healthy and productive; more children stay in school and keep learning. In turn, this is good news for nations’ economies.
Innovations
Innovations in technology, delivery systems and creating demand are critical to accelerating our progress cost-effectively and efficiently.
This was originally published on Skoll World Forum.
No comments:
Post a Comment