International civil society calls for ambitious action for global health by the G7
Ancona, 11.10.2024. The multiple and interrelated crises raging at the global level, whose structural causes remain unresolved, are eroding the right to health of billions of people, making it extremely difficult to reach the Sustainable Development Goals on health and other fields by 2030, and contributing to the resurge of known diseases and epidemics and to the surge of new ones.
The Civil7 – the official Engagement Groups of the G7 gathering Civil Society Organisations from all over the world – reiterates the urgency of international solidarity, given the evolving disease trajectories and the need for public health syndemic responses. The starting point is elaborating responses that build up on eliminating the unacceptable inequalities in accessing health care and services, and that entails a fair dialogue and participation of all actors involved. This applies especially to those representing the most vulnerable and marginalised populations who bear the brunt of such crises and challenges, with a special attention to countries and regions from the Global South. Therefore, we reiterate our high concern by the absence of proper recognition of the role of civil society, key populations and affected communities in global health governance.
We are highly concerned that there is no mention of global health as a fundamental human right. Only with a human rights, equity-based, people-centred and gender-transformative approach to global health will we effectively achieve the SDGs by removing all forms of exclusion, discrimination and criminalization from health policies and practices. We note with concern that there is no mention of community health systems, which, especially in low- and middle-income countries, have a crucial role in guaranteeing to vulnerable and marginalised people access to primary healthcare. We welcome the recognition of the critical role the WHO plays and the need to strengthen it, also financially. Moreover, we welcome the re-commitment to ending HIV, TB and malaria through robust support to the Global Fund at its replenishment next year, crucial to end the three epidemics as agreed upon in the 2030 Agenda as well as the continued support to other international mechanisms as Gavi.
We welcome the support to enhance pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa to advance Universal Health Coverage as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean Region, and we emphasise the need to concretely promote equitable access to Medical Countermeasures through promotion of enablers for regional manufacturing of diagnostic tools and therapeutics. We appreciate the commitment in promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), but we call on the G7 to accelerate joint action to secure adequate, predictable funding and financing for universal SRHR for all across the life course. This is critical to ending the unmet need for family planning and preventable maternal deaths, and to ending sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices.
While we welcome the due recognition of the One Health approach and of its tight link with the increasing challenge that Antimicrobial Resistance poses to global health, we believe that the G7 could have been more impactful. It was expected to make more ambitious commitments and to champion concrete actions toward eliminating the inequitable access to medicines, among which antimicrobials, diagnostics, and other health products, especially in low- and middle-income countries, which would both fall within and expand what was agreed upon last September in the Political Declaration of the UN High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance. The C7 urges the G7 Health ministers and governments to promote systemic and transformative changes in international policies through a strengthened and reinvigorated multilateral system, as just affirmed in the context of the United Nations. The G7 can play a useful role in building consensus to enable multi-sectoral policies and practices to accelerate accessible healthcare for all to advance the sustainable development agenda.
Press Release from Civil7
Contact: e-mail communications@civil7.org e cell: 349 38 95 415
