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Health is a fundamental human right

The constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) from 1946 envisages “…the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental right of every human being.” Within the past few years alone – especially as consequence of the worldwide effective wake-up call caused by the Ebola pandemic – Global Health has been embodied in the international agenda.

UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all United Nations Member States in September 2015, underline the significance and importance of “Good Health and Well-Being”, as established by SDG 3. But more than that, they impressively underline that all other 16 SDGs are closely interconnected and interdependent with health. The logic conclusion of the SDGs can only be a systematic implementation of “Health in All Policies” – a goal which still waits to be widely reached.

UHC & Health System Strengthening

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Health System Strengthening (HSS) have become key targets for the international community. Just recently, UHC served as a focus field of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019. HSS remains absolutely crucial for reaching SDG 3 and realizing UHC. Moreover, the commitment to making health systems more resilient also needs to be significantly expanded and intensified as the status of health infrastructure in one country can profoundly affect health security worldwide. The progression of the Ebola pandemic again emphasized this all but new fact.

The Role of GHA in Global Health

The GHA – German Health Alliance, with its more than 100 member organisations, is driven by a strong commitment to the proactive contribution to Global Health, especially to Health System Strengthening. In this context, the multi-sectoral GHA constellation enables and facilitates the providing of solutions that can truly make a difference in reaching above mentioned targets. Like all actors, stakeholders and sectors, GHA shares the responsibility for complying with the stipulations derived from the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

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