Ambassador Wegger Chr. Strommen was interviewed by Global Health TV after his speech. You can see the interview at
globalhealthtv.com
 Photo: Global Health Council |
At the opening plenary session, titled “The Millennium Development Goals: Where are we now and what must be done to succeed?” Ambassador Strommen highlighted Norway’s support for GAVI (The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) and the Global Fund which has made sure that vaccination coverage globally is now over 80%. The Fund has also made progress in preventing HIV-transmission from mother to child, averting more than one million new HIV infections among infants. Together, GAVI and The Global Fund have saved close to ten million lives since their start a decade ago. |
Norway has been a strong partner in these developments and has tripled the investments in global health during this period.
In his speech at the conference, the Ambassador also mentioned the importance of giving newborns and pregnant woman special attention. – Results are falling short of our goals. Of the 8.8 million children that die every year, 3.6 million are babies that die during their first month of life. According to UN statistics, half a million women still die during pregnancy and childbirth.
During the roundtable discussion afterwards Ambassador Strommen also talked about what principles that should be emphasized when the UN meets to discuss the Millenium Development Goals in September at the High Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly.
- To acheive the goal of better world health we must agree on a basic strategy that puts women and girls at the centre of health services. We know that two out of three women can be saved if they are given quality care during pregnancy. Therefore we must develop practices, based on innovation, such as results-based financing. We must also agree on how to maximize commitments in September from developed and developing countries and public and private sectors. We must agree on a streamlined global platform for funding, such as joint plattform for the GAVI, the Global Fund and the World Bank. Finally, we must develop and put in place a framework to monitor the commitments and the results at all levels.