Statement: Monitoring of the Achievement of the Health-Related Millennium Development Goals

By Tracy Hewat, Spokesperson for Corporate Accountability International

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Corporate Accountability International and our 80,000 members and supporters around the world. All of our major campaign areas – water, tobacco and food – are tied to development, and have an impact on achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

 

In her opening address yesterday, Dr. Chan cautioned that pressure for economic growth must not trump health. For too long, tobacco was an issue where vested commercial interests prevailed over the broad public interest. That all changed when the WHO launched its first treaty – and when that treaty required ratifying countries to protect their health policies against tobacco industry interference.

 

However, the global tobacco epidemic still claims more than five million lives each year. Full and effective implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is urgently needed. Preventing the spread of the tobacco epidemic to developing countries will not only save lives, but also promote strong economies.

 

FCTC Article 5.3 provides a framework for safeguarding against conflicts of interest between the private sector and public interest on a range of health issues — from access to safe drinking water to marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

 

The MDGs recognize water supply and sanitation as a cornerstone for alleviating poverty, increasing development and improving health outcomes in the developing world. Document A62/10 outlines the health threats posed by lack of safe water and poor sanitation, and the impact on morbidity and mortality. The report also notes WHO’s intention to work in partnership with all actors concerned with improving people’s health, including the private sector.

 

Since the commercial interests of the private water industry cannot be presumed to converge with public health interests, we urge WHO to promote effective safeguards against conflicts of interest in any relationship between the public sector and private water corporations, and to implement such protections with regard to its own interactions in this arena.

 

The global financial crisis threatens to derail progress in achieving the MDGs and constitutes what World Bank Chief Economist Justin Yifu Lin calls an “emergency for development.”[i] The crisis of development, coupled with a global water crisis, means that investment in water infrastructure is even more crucial than ever for economic recovery and in meeting the MDGs.

 

WHO has a history of influencing the health policies of the World Bank, including by bolstering the Bank’s policy shift away from lending for tobacco production, and by adding an economic argument to the public health rationale for the FCTC. Today, the strategy the World Bank adopts for disbursing billions of dollars in infrastructure funding will shape how public money is spent, and whether the health MDGs will be met.

 

Now is a key moment for WHO to take a leadership role in shaping an economic recovery plan that will advance the health-related Millennium Development Goals. Rather than so-called ‘public-private partnerships’, what’s needed is investment in accountable and efficient public water systems that operate in the interest of the public.

Thank you.

 

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