British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his visiting German counterpart Angela Merkel on Wednesday pledged to improve healthcare in the developing world.
After the meeting at the No. 10 Downing Street, the two leaders issued a joint statement on a new International Health Partnership, saying that addressing healthcare and aid provision was now a " development emergency".
The new partnership, which will launch formally on 5 September, will drive forward work on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) involving the reduction of child and maternal mortality and the tackling of specific diseases such as HIV/AIDS, the two leaders said.
"We see this as a critical step in our call for an international mobilization of effort to achieve the MDGs that will build year on year until 2015. Our efforts must bring together the private sector, NGOs, faith groups, international agencies and governments in a new partnership to reduce poverty, improve health and provide opportunities for the poor across the world." the two leaders said in the statement.
They said that MDGs focusing on healthcare were the "least likely to be met" by the agreed target date of 2015, and that an " improved approach" was needed.
This will entail the strengthening of "weak systems" suffering from a lack of workers and clinics and better coordination of " complex" and "fragmented health provision", they added.
Brown and Merkel also highlighted the renewed commitment of the world's richest nations to meet funding pledges made in 2005.
"We reaffirm our commitment made at the G8 and the EU to provide the financing needed to meet our health commitments through the established institutions and mechanisms. In this context, the replenishment of the Global Fund will be a key step. We will also explore innovative financing mechanisms to meet these commitments." said they.
It was Merkel's first visit to London since Brown took office as Prime Minister from Tony Blair on June 27. After the press conference, the two leaders attended a friendly football match between England and Germany at Wembley stadium on Wednesday night.
Source: Xinhua
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