Will Namibians be healthy enough by 2015?

THE World Health Organisation and the World Bank this week named Namibia among the countries that are not on track to reach the so-called millennium development goals for health.

Only a minority of countries are set to attain any of the health-related development goals, according to the WHO and World Bank. The two organisations warn that Namibia will miss the mark on health-care goals unless it takes decisive action “starting now and with a concerted effort over the next 12 years”.More worryingly still, the organisations note that the health goals are particularly difficult to meet and that progress towards them is slower than towards some other development goals in fields other than health.Four of the goals relate to health: to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters and child mortality by two-thirds, to halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, combat, HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases; and to improve access to safe drinking water and essential drugs.”When these kinds of targets are set, it seems too soon to take urgent action, and then, after a few short years, it seems too late,” Dr Jong-wook Lee, Director General of the WHO, said in a press statement following a weekend meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.”Where the targets are the product of a large consensus, there is also the hazard of everyone waiting for everyone else to risk making the first move.We still have time to avoid these pitfalls with the targets for 2015, but to do so we have to act now”.The World Bank estimates that progress against child mortality has been so slow that no sub-Saharan country in Africa is on target to reach that goal.At the current pace in the developing world as a whole, only 16 per cent of countries are on track to achieve this goal.Similarly, 17 per cent of developing countries are likely to meet the maternal mortality goal.Only 40 per cent of developing countries are on track to reach the nutrition goal.World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, said: “We need to look at measures such as committing increased resources to meeting the health-related [goals] and using those resources more effectively in countries”.Lack of progress towards the health goals is likely to affect progress towards non-health goals, such as those concerned with education.For example, access to clean water and education for mothers are both recognised as key determinants of infant and child mortality rates.The two organisations warn that Namibia will miss the mark on health-care goals unless it takes decisive action “starting now and with a concerted effort over the next 12 years”. More worryingly still, the organisations note that the health goals are particularly difficult to meet and that progress towards them is slower than towards some other development goals in fields other than health. Four of the goals relate to health: to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters and child mortality by two-thirds, to halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, combat, HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases; and to improve access to safe drinking water and essential drugs. “When these kinds of targets are set, it seems too soon to take urgent action, and then, after a few short years, it seems too late,” Dr Jong-wook Lee, Director General of the WHO, said in a press statement following a weekend meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. “Where the targets are the product of a large consensus, there is also the hazard of everyone waiting for everyone else to risk making the first move. We still have time to avoid these pitfalls with the targets for 2015, but to do so we have to act now”. The World Bank estimates that progress against child mortality has been so slow that no sub-Saharan country in Africa is on target to reach that goal. At the current pace in the developing world as a whole, only 16 per cent of countries are on track to achieve this goal. Similarly, 17 per cent of developing countries are likely to meet the maternal mortality goal. Only 40 per cent of developing countries are on track to reach the nutrition goal. World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, said: “We need to look at measures such as committing increased resources to meeting the health-related [goals] and using those resources more effectively in countries”. Lack of progress towards the health goals is likely to affect progress towards non-health goals, such as those concerned with education. For example, access to clean water and education for mothers are both recognised as key determinants of infant and child mortality rates.