Health and the Millennium Development Goals
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Edited by Rebecca Dodd
World Health Organization, August 2005: ISBN 92 4 156298 6
English Version - Adobe PDF file (84 pp. 5.6 MB!):
http://www.who.int/entity/mdg/publications/MDG_Report_08_2005.pdf
French Version - Adobe PDF file (84 pp. 3.34 MB!):
http://www.who.int/entity/mdg/publications/Report_du_omd.pdf
The report, Health and the Millennium Development Goals, pre-
sents data on progress on the health goals and targets and looks
beyond the numbers to analyse why improvements in health have
been slow and to suggest what must be done to change this. The
report points to weak and inequitable health systems as a key
obstacle, including particularly a crisis in health personnel
and the urgent need for sustainable health financing.
Building up and strengthening health systems is vital if more
progress is to be made towards the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a new re-
port. Unless urgent investments are made in health systems, cur-
rent rates of progress will not be sufficient to meet most of
the Goals.
Key Recommendations of Health in the Millennium Development
Goals:
1. To strengthen health systems and ensure they are equitable.
2. To ensure that health is prioritized within overall develop-
ment and economic policies.
3. To develop health strategies that respond to the diverse and
evolving needs of countries.
4. To mobilize needed resources for health in poor countries.
5. To improve the quality of health data.