High-level Forum on the Health Millennium Development Goals

The first High-Level Forum (HLF) on the Health Millennium Development Goals (MDG) took place in Geneva in January 2004.

The idea for the High-Level Forum emerged from a meeting of development agencies and developing countries that took place in Ottawa, hosted by the Government of Canada, the World Bank and the UK's Department for International Development (DflD) the previous year. The aim of the Forum is to provide an opportunity for candid dialogue and identify opportunities for accelerating action on the health-related MDGs.

The first High-Level Forum on Health MDGs meeting brought together senior officials from seventeen developing countries (including nine ministers of health and three ministers of finance, economic planning and local government); eleven bilateral agencies; eight multilateral agencies; and nine foundations, regional organizations and global partnerships.

First High-level Forum: January 2004

The first High-Level Forum on Health Millennium Development Goals, January 2004, covered three main themes in its first meeting:

• Resources, Effectiveness and Harmonization
• Human Resources for Health
• Monitoring and Benchmarking

Participants agreed that progress on the health MDGs is too slow. Midway through the period 1990-2015 the results are mixed, but overall the half time score is not good enough. For example no country in sub-Saharan Africa is on track to reduce child mortality by two-thirds. We have to do more to tackle communicable diseases – particularly HIV/AIDS.

Initial discussions made frequent reference to the fact that the world community agreed in Monterrey on the need for more resources. This consensus was set in the context of dealing with debt and trade issues. The point was therefore made that we do not need more promises: we need to deliver on those already made.

Outcomes of the High-Level Forum on Health MDGs include:

• A recommendation to the Development Committee for a closer relationship between the PRSP process and the achievement of the MDGs;
• Joint work to assess the effectiveness of donor harmonization in health and AIDS;
• A mandate for further joint work on human resources for health;
• A link with the Global Commission on International Migration;
• An endorsement of plans to establish the Health Metrics Network.

There was a view among some participants that the focus of the Forum should be on those countries that had the right policies and institutions. To make real progress on the MDGs, however, it is important to broaden the scope of the HLF’s concerns to those countries in crisis or where poor policies and institutions prevail. It is critical that WHO’s experience in this area, and not just that of the World Bank, be used at the next meeting.

Second High-level Forum: December 2004, Abuja, Nigeria

The second High-Level Forum on Health MDGs is planned for December, 2004 in Abuja, Nigeria. Work is ongoing to prepare for this HLF in Geneva, at the World Health Organization, and in Washington, at the World Bank.