Press Release

OPEC support strengthening national health systems in Arab LDCs

125/2005 December 20, 2005, Vienna, Austria
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The OPEC Fund for International Development today approved a grant of US$400,000 to support an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to help strengthen national health systems in three least-developed Arab countries; namely, Djibouti, the Sudan and Yemen.

The health indicators among impoverished Arab countries are of growing concern, particularly those related to women and children. Limited access to good quality, and effective health care, places vulnerable populations at an additional disadvantage, as many succumb to preventable, but nonetheless life-threatening, illnesses.

The interconnection between health and poverty has received heightened attention over recent years, and it has been recognized that economic growth and development can only be achieved with a healthy population. With this in mind, WHO, in cooperation with the Ministries of Health of Djibouti, the Sudan and Yemen, has initiated a project with the overall objective to improve the health status and well-being of the poor. This would ultimately boost the development process of other sectors, and in turn have a positive effect on the countries’ economies.

Project activities have been formulated to embrace the three health-related targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to: reduce by two-thirds, the under-five mortality rates; reduce, by three-quarters, the maternal mortality ratio; and, combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases by 2015.

The WHO-led initiative will be country-specific and its main activities will cover:

• institutionalization and dissemination of macroeconomic and health activities through the creation of National Coordinating Technical Committees and setting tasks to integrate macroeconomics-related issues within the national health strategy;
• increase resource allocations to the health sector by carrying out workshops and seminars, in addition to advocacy campaigns, through the use of mass media and production of educational materials;
• strengthening health policy, planning and decision-making by establishing a database system, training workshops and initiating capacity-building measures among health care providers;
• improving information, communication and reporting through the development and dissemination of information materials.