Health Ministers Meeting: 'A place to take stock and a launchpad for new initiatives'

Yesterday we met with Health Ministers from across the 53-nation Commonwealth family here in Geneva where we discussed and agreed on ways on how we might strengthen public health systems and overcome perhaps one of the major challenges to sustaining development: poor health.

The statistics say it all: about half the world’s population is still at risk of contracting malaria, 34 million people are living with HIV, 17 percent of children in developing countries are underweight, and 6.6 million under-fives die every year. Issues of access and affordability to healthcare are key. But we would be wrong to assume that poor health is merely a developing world problem.

In 2010, four non-communicable diseases were responsible for 28.3 million deaths worldwide which will rise to 38.8 million in 2025 based on current trends. Indeed, seven million people worldwide die from coronary heart disease every year. Addressing non-communicable diseases is a major challenge of our time.

You can't help come to the conclusion that already over-stretched health systems around the world need support and advice. And this is why the Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting is so important. For our members, it is a place to take stock of the challenges, a forum for sharing of experiences and a launchpad for new initiatives.

During the sessions, we heard how South Africa sees the first thousand days of a child’s life as essential to determining a lifetime of healthy habits, how Singapore has revolutionised its healthcare system, and how India has eradicated polio. We heard about the vital need to tackle avoidable blindness and of Vision 2020 where we will work together in eradicating avoidable blindness. We agreed that we will move ahead with a new cloud-based hub, ‘Commonwealth Health’ that will transform the way that practitioners, ministries of health and centres of excellence share and partner with one another. It will probably be the world’s largest online community of health practitioners.

Encompassing five continents and a third of the world’s population, the Commonwealth has a special role in bringing global attention to major health policy issues. If we speak with one voice and sustain global advocacy, we can help make enormous improvements in the lives of our people and this world of ours.