In this way we will help reduce poverty and contribute to prosperity. This is a reasonable expectation, because the landscape for international health has changed dramatically over the last 12 months . The UN Millennium Summit, the meeting of G8 Heads of State in Okinawa and OAU leaders in Lome, the International AIDS conference in Durban, the malaria summit in Abuja, and the meeting of Health and Finance Ministers on TB in Amsterdam at all these events, Heads of State from developing and developed countries called for a significant increase in the response to the diseases most closely linked to people s poverty. This has already led to increased support for partnerships that support effective action at country level. These include the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Roll Back Malaria, Stop TB, the campaign to eradicate Polio, and the International Partnership against AIDS in Africa.
Further increases are on the horizon.
There may well be new commitments at a G8 event in Okinawa, early December. There is a new political momentum. We who are concerned with the achievement of results, particularly at country level, will want to take advantage of it. But we must be certain we are standing on solid ground. Getting the facts straight.