Health expert puts price on world's health needs^*

It would take about $10 billion per year to straighten out much of the world's health situation, says Dr. David Nabarro, executive director of the World Health Organization (WHO). He also made three other observations: that that figure is not too much to ask of the rich nations of the world to give to the poor ones; plus it would be in their interest to do so, and it isn't going to happen. Nabarro was in New York recently to update United Nations headquarters and donor foundations on the half way point of the Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland's first term as WHO director general. "We probably need to see at least $3 billion a year more to go into HIV prevention and diagnoses," he said in an interview with The Earth Times. "and possibly a minimum of $3 billion a year on top of that to start tackling the problem of care." Since current global expenditure on the AIDS problem is about one billion a year, that would mean sextupling the HIV-related expenditures. "If we add in malaria, tuberculosis, child and women's health it would take an extra $4 billion," he said.

* Thanks to Prevention News Update for providing this news story.

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