UN General Assembly
1985

We know that while world arms expenditure is approaching the $1,000 billion threshold, in many developing countries almost half of the children die, before they reach the age of five, of malnutrition or because of the lack of medical care. A mere fraction of military spending in the world would suffice to reach the objective of health for all. Permit me to recall that back in 1974 the World Health Organization launched an appeal for an international campaign for immunization of all the children of the world by 1990. The German Democratic Republic, where vaccinations are part and parcel of basic medical schemes, provides substantial assistance to quite a few developing countries in carrying out their respective programs and other related measures for the preservation of international peace. International economic relations based on equal rights are becoming increasingly important. They can flourish only in conditions of sovereign equality. That is why the German Democratic Republic stands in solidarity at the side of the developing countries.