Britain, Germany Launch Third World Health Scheme

LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Wednesday a global health campaign to target aid more effectively at the basic needs of poor countries.

The International Health Partnership, to be officially launched on Sept. 5, aims to reduce child and maternal mortality and tackle diseases such as HIV/AIDS by building long-term health infrastructures in developing countries.

The scheme will bring together donor countries like Britain, Germany, Canada and Norway as well as the World Bank and World Health Organisation. Rich nations would submit long-term health plans and international agencies would commit to better coordinate funding and efforts on the ground.

International aid group Oxfam said the initiative deserved widespread support from around the world.

"This partnership could literally save lives, by coordinating investment in healthcare that is free, public and well-staffed," said Alison Woodhead, head of Oxfam's international campaign for health and education.

"Brown and Merkel should be congratulated for following through on their G8 promises to improve health care. The challenge for them now is to make sure other countries get on board to ensure maximum impact," she said.

Both the British and German leaders, who met in London on Wednesday, have said more needs to be done to hold wealthy countries to promises of help for Africa which they made as part of the Millennium Development Goals.

At a June summit in Germany this year, world powers pledged to provide the financing needed to meet healthcare commitments made as part of those goals, and do more to coordinate aid with the national health plans of developing countries.

Of all the promises on development goals, those focusing on health were the least likely to be met, Brown and Merkel said on Wednesday.

Currently half a million women still die every year in childbirth, while 10 million children do not reach their fifth birthday and only 1 in 4 of those in need of AIDS treatment in Africa is able to receive it.

A lack of health workers -- many of whom move to developed countries after training -- clinics, supplies of essential medicines and sustainable health financing systems are among the main obstacles.