Global Forum Releases New Report on Forum 8
-------------------------------------------
Health Research for the Millennium Development Goals
Global Forum Releases New Report on Forum 8, Mexico, November
2004
The first report published by the Global Forum on an annual
meeting, Health Research for the Millennium Development Goals,
summarizes the main themes of Forum 8 from plenary presentations
and includes a CD-ROM with all the presentations, media and fi-
nal documentation of the meeting. The report clearly demon-
strates that a great deal is known about the kinds of research
that are urgently required to accelerate and intensify the ef-
forts necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). The Global Forum for Health Research is an independent
international foundation based in Geneva. The report and CD-ROM
can be ordered or downloaded from the organization's website:
http://www.globalforumhealth.org
Forum 8, which was held in conjunction with the Ministerial Sum-
mit on Health Research, brought together over 900 participants
from 450 institutions in 109 countries. Participants represented
governments, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, interna-
tional and national foundations and NGOs, women's organizations,
research institutions and universities, the private sector and
the media. The two meetings shared a number of elements, includ-
ing joint plenary sessions each day. Several key messages emerge
in the report, including the need for more political commitment,
a wide interpretation of the health agenda underlying the spe-
cific MDG targets -- effectively an "MDG-plus" approach that
recognizes the vital importance of building strong health sys-
tems and addressing all the major health problems of the popula-
tion, including non-communicable diseases and injuries, mental
and neurological health, sexual and reproductive health, and the
health needs of groups such as adolescents and the aged. The re-
port also emphasizes more application of existing knowledge --
which itself generates a research agenda into how best to adapt
and implement what is already known to work. It stresses the
need for more health research of all kinds to create new knowl-
edge, tools and technologies, and to learn how to translate
these into effective interventions that are targeted to, and
reach, even the poorest and most marginalized sections of the
population.
At the close of the meeting, the Global Forum released a major
statement, which will also serve as a contribution to the review
of progress towards the MDGs in September 2005. The statement is
posted on their website: http://www.globalforumhealth.org
--
Christine Mauroux
Global Forum for Health Research
mailto:christine.mauroux@globalforumhealth.org