World leaders from donor countries and
developing nations will gather in New York today to discuss making the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) a reality, especially those relating to maternal and child health.On the agenda at the high level event for health at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) are two key proposals:Innovative Financing Initiative â€" how to get more money
for health from new sources in this time of economic downturnRemoval of user fees â€" how to make health care more accessible, especially for the poorest and most
vulnerable people.Without additional finances and these finances being targeted to those countries where it is most needed, there is little hope of reaching the goals on maternal and child
mortality. Currently more than nine million children die before their fifth birthday and over half a million women die each year of pregnancy-related issues. Fragile states bear a
disproportionate burden of these deaths and a lack of access to health care is a key factor in this.Paying with their livesThere are many reasons why woman and
children do not get the health care they need but a major barrier is cost. Many governments are implementing user fee policies for health care in order to boost health funding, but for families trying
to survive on as little as $1 per day, the cost of a consultation is a cost too far. User fees while raising only 5-7% of the revenue needed, hit those most in need of services, the hardest.Fiona Campbell, Head of Policy, says: “These payments at the facility level need to be reduced or eliminated altogether. The evidence is clear, when user fees are removed, people
use the services.â€However removing official fees will only work if there is enough funding to pay the health workers and buy the drugs needed to provide a quality
service. Removing user fees, therefore, has to be planned and combined with long-term, predictable funding commitments, both from national governments as well as donors.Innovative
financing needed in economic downturnOn September 23, world leaders will be asked to support the removal of user fees in at least seven countries; Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone,
Burundi, Malawi, Mozambique and Nepal. But finding additional funds at this time of global economic downturn is not easy.This is where the Innovative Financing Initiative has a role to
play. A further £10bn is needed to ensure the achievement of the MDGs and it is proposed that some of this could be raised from these schemes; such as the voluntary tax on airline
tickets, to be launched by the French government on 23 September.Innovative financing and extending free health care could save thousands of women’s and
children’s lives. Let’s hope that world leaders give these two options their full support.Find out more about our policy priorities
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Caileen (L) and Alaina Burnside check out a flooded area that leads to their school in Lilburn, Georgia, September 22, 2009. Severe flooding in north Georgia has killed seven people, submerged ...
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