Commonwealth health ministers reflect on the Millennium Development Goals and health priorities post-2015
Ministers from across the Commonwealth have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening public health systems, while reiterating calls for health to take a central place in the development agenda post-2015.
In Geneva on Sunday, 18 May 2014, the ministers acknowledged that many nations may not achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their target date of 2015, but nonetheless insisted that all citizens should have equitable access to quality and affordable essential health services.
Speaking in the wings of the meeting, Prof C O Onyebuchi Chukwu, Minister of Health for Nigeria, said it was important to deal with the “unfinished business” of the MDGs, stressing how progress on health can be achieved by working across education, water and sanitation, agriculture and nutrition, among other sectors.
Malaysia’s Minister of Health, Datuk Seri Dr Subramaniam said: “While there will be different levels of achievements of the Millennium Development Goals among our member countries, as a global entity we have to have targets and agendas.
“The main challenges that we face [in Malaysia] are non-communicable diseases and increasing lifespan and its effect on health costs. This will be our main issue post-2015.”
Dr Philippos Patsalis, Minister of Health for Cyprus, said the Commonwealth meeting in Geneva on the eve of the Sixty-Seventh World Health Assembly, was an important space for ministers to learn from one another. “We share different problems and different experiences, but we can gain from each other,” he said.
Dr Patsalis' sentiment was echoed by Mitcy Larue, Minister of Health for Seychelles, who described the meeting as a valuable forum to “share good practices” about successful health programmes. “We can have side events where we can discuss further topics that are very useful for my country,” she said.
