NEPAD's vision: NEPAD commits African governments to approach access to health care as a right to health, and therefore places health in the context of social rights as an expression of transparent and accountable governance. Implicit in that understanding is a commitment to a significant increase in the percentage of people with access to health facilities, and to the UN Millennium Development goals of reducing the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds by 2015, reducing by three-quarters the maternal mortality rate by 2015; and halting and reversing the incidence of malaria and tuberculosis by 2015.
With regard to HIV/AIDS, we see in NEPAD a commitment by African governments to establish participatory mechanisms to involve diverse community groups in crafting AIDS programs and defining priorities regarding funding. We envision a significant increase in the percentage of people with access to voluntary counseling and testing in conjunction with treatment programs, a reversal in the infection rate, a significant increase in the numbers of women receiving mother-to-child transmission treatment, and a major expansion in the provision of antiretroviral medications.
US responsibility: To support these health aspirations, we note the following indicators for US policy:
- The US government will increase annual US contributions for global AIDS efforts, including the Global Fund, to a minimum of $2.5 billion.
- The US government will oppose "user fees" for basic health services, either directly or through international financial institutions.
- The US government will actively support affordable access to medicines, including good faith commitments to support the spirit of the Doha statement ("Declaration of the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, at Doha, November 2001), broad interpretation of third-country access to medications, and development of indigenous pharmaceutical industries and capacity in Africa. In particular, the US will offer explicit support of the right of African nations to obtain or produce generic medications in order to address their domestic public health concerns.
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