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Global Health Initiative of the World Economic Forum Calls on Business to Partner with Public Sector to Improve Healthcare Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

1 June 2006 - Cape Town

World’s leading organization for public-private partnerships in health launches first ever initiative of its kind

Business is being urged to use its resources and expertise in partnership with the public sector to improve sub-Saharan Africa’s weak healthcare systems in a White Paper, From Funding to Action: Strengthening Healthcare Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, launched today by the Global Health Initiative at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town.

“Sub-Saharan Africa’s healthcare systems are failing its people. Throughout the region, people are dying because healthcare systems are often inadequately managed and resourced and fail to connect to Africa’s poorest and most disadvantaged people. While new funding to address diseases such as AIDS, TB and malaria are much needed, we need to start addressing the cause, not the symptoms,” said Francesca Boldrini, Director of the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Initiative. “This new White Paper identifies clear, specific areas where businesses can use their skills and resources in partnership with the public sector to quickly affect change and make a real difference to people’s lives.”

While in recent years there has been much investment from business, NGOs, international organizations and governments to tackle health problems such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa, the weakness of the region’s healthcare systems – the infrastructures that organize, finance and ensure the quality of health services – means that much of the new funding is not used as efficiently as it could be.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world which is expected not to meet any of the health-related Millennium Development Goals. The human cost of this failure is enormous; for example a child born in Niger is 40 times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than a child born in the United Kingdom. Much of the reason for this lies in the poor quality of the healthcare systems currently in place.

In the first ever project of its kind, the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Initiative has brought together a range of stakeholders to identify how business could partner with the public sector to improve healthcare systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The resulting White Paper collects the views of diverse stakeholders on the barriers to effective healthcare systems in the region, and identifies opportunities for business to use its knowledge and skills to help tackle the problems through new public-private partnerships. If turned into action, some of the strategic interventions identified in this paper could contribute to improving access to health for millions of Africans.

However, there are already some great examples that demonstrate the critical role that public-private partnerships (PPPs) can play in this area. BD (Becton, Dickinson & Company, a global medical technology company), is already contributing through a series of PPPs focused on laboratory and clinical practice training, healthcare capacity building, and increasing access to vitally needed technologies on an affordable and sustainable basis. Gary Cohen, President of BD Medical said: “Improving the fundamental capacity to provide health services is vital for breaking down the vicious cycle of disease and poverty that destroys the lives of millions of Africans.” Gary Cohen further stated: “I applaud the GHI’s leadership in this area and urge businesses to deploy their skills and resources, in partnership with the public sector, toward this achievable goal.”

We are actively looking for companies, governments, NGOs and other stakeholders to get involved in the consultation. For further information contact Tanya Mounier, Senior Project Manager, Global Health Initiative at tanya.mounier@weforum.org

About the Global Health Initiative
The goal of the Global Health Initiative (GHI) of the World Economic Forum is to facilitate and stimulate greater business engagement in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. To achieve this goal, the GHI works closely with the World Economic Forum's member companies as well as UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria and the World Health Organization's Stop TB and Roll Back Malaria partnerships. A broad range of NGOs and other members of civil society, as well as governments, have also joined the efforts of the GHI. The GHI provides a unique platform for dialogue, partnership and action on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria involving both the private and the public sector. It coordinates a community of more than 230 companies that are confronting similar fundamental health challenges to their operations. In particular, the GHI provides a forum to share experiences, to define generally accepted standards and to act as an advocate for the private sector. For further information please go to http://www.weforum.org/globalhealth


Notes to Editors:
- More about the Global Health Initiative
- More information about the World Economic Forum on Africa
- Picture Library: For free-of-charge, print-quality photos, go to: www.pbase.com/forumweb/africa2005 and www.pbase.com/forumweb/africa2006
- The Programme of the meeting can be downloaded at: www.weforum.org/africa/programme
- Read the Press Releases from the World Economic Forum on Africa at: www.weforum.org/pressreleases
- Read the Session Summaries of the sessions at: www.weforum.org/africasummaries2006
- For a list of Leading Participants, click here: www.weforum.org/africa/participants
- In-depth Interviews with key participants can be read here: www.weforum.org/africa/indepth
- Media Accreditation to the World Economic Forum on Africa is closed.
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