Fiinovation - Meeting the country's Millennium Development Goal targets on health indicators

Millennium Development Goal- a 15 years program to bring about meaningful changes in global economy. The initiative began in 2000 at United Nation Summit. All 189 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve these goals by the year 2015. The goals that focused on health initiatives were as follows:-

GOAL 4: Reducing child mortality rates.

GOAL 5: Improving Maternal Health.

GOAL 6: Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.

In the last 13 years we have gone a long way ahead but still a lot needs to be done on various aspects.  If we talk about the data’s we would see that under-five child mortality has decreased almost by half in last 25 years despite of global population growth. We have been able to save lots of life through greater access to antiretroviral viral therapy (ART). Various lives are being saved through better tuberculosis and malaria prevention and treatment activities. Community engagement in health care has reached its high time, all around the globe and India has also not been excluded from it. Antenatal care is being provided to women by various government and non-government agencies. Pharmaceutical companies have also supported in this regards with resources for the provision of medicines to global health funds rising of late despite the economic downturn.

When we look at the overall scenario it is not beauty all around. Some results seen so far even represent a depressing fact. 6.9 million Children under 5 died in 2011. Even maternal mortality has is 15 times higher in developing countries then developed countries. There are also a significant number of new HIV infection carriers year after year. The most important fact that has to be noticed here is inequalities in every development goal in rural and urban areas. Rural areas still lag behind cities; infant mortality is climbing in many areas. Many patients face denied access to life extending treatment because of the cost barrier.

But now when we are about to end the year 2013 we have to start thinking  about the future, the MDG’s in reality is not just the ‘final push’.  What are we going to do after 2015? Since we are viewing the project as the most successful development project in history there is also a little doubt that this may be only one step for the way forward. Apart from setting future goals, development goals may also move to addressing issues of strategy and best practice. With antipathy to funding development projects growing in the majority of the world (as countries look towards domestic needs the focus is likely to shift to issues of how to fund future goals) perhaps the goals shifting towards something considered more obtainable in an increasingly financially scarce world. This in turn could drive measurers to improve access to essential medicines through cost initiatives or greater donations of medicines, although the compliance of international pharmaceutical companies on this could be uncertain.