Global health initiatives need to be better coordinated

doi:10.1136/bmj.39570.352824.DB

BMJ 2008;336:1039 (10 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39570.352824.DB

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Global health initiatives need to be better coordinated

Tessa Richards

¹ BMJ

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Managing aid has become a challenge for healthcare providersand policy makers in poor countries. Their task would be easierif there were better coordination and collaboration betweenthe 100 or so different global health initiatives, delegateswere told at a recent conference on global health held on 29April at the Royal College of Physicians in London.

In a day devoted to discussing challenges in global health,from climate change to the rise in non-communicable disease,several speakers focused on the need for more concerted efforts.

Nick Banatvala, head of global health at the Department of Health,drew attention to the UK government’s new global healthstrategy, which will be launched later this year.

He emphasised that its evolution has been underpinned by a recognitionof the need for collaboration between government departments,including those for health, trade, and agriculture, and to identifythe links between health and foreign . . . [Full text of this article]