PPPs Likely to Undermine Public Health Commitments

Capacity-building support for developing countries to safeguard the public interest in terms of public health and especially, to ensure that no one is left behind, is essential. Credit: IPSBy Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame SundaramSYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR , Jan 17 2018 (IPS)The United Nations Agenda 2030 for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is being touted in financial circles as offering huge investment opportunities requiring trillions of dollars. In 67 low- and middle-income countries, achieving SDG 3 — healthy lives and well-being for all, at all ages — is estimated to require new investments increasing over time, from an initial $134 billion annually to $371 billion yearly by 2030, according to recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) reported in The Lancet. Selling PPPs Deprived of fiscal and aid resources, none of these governments can finance such investments alone. The United Nations Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing estimated in 2014 that annual global savings (both public and private sources) were around US$22 trillion, while global financial assets were around US$218 trillion.The third International Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa in mid-2015 recommended ‘blended finance’ as well as other public private partnerships (PPPs) to pool public and private resources and expertise to achieve the SDGs. Development finance institutions (DFIs), particularly the World Bank, are the main...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Development & Aid Economy & Trade Featured Global Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Trade & Investment Water & Sanitation Source Type: news