Ireland, MDGs and health: A drop in the ocean or a real contribution?

With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to boost progress towards the MDGs. The summit is expected to undertake a comprehensive review of successes, best practices and lessons learned, obstacles and gaps, challenges and opportunities, “leading to concrete strategies for action”.

So how is Ireland doing in its contribution to the health MDGs and where do we go after 2015?

Health MDGs

Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality

• Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health

• Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
• Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases

• Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
• Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
• Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

Speakers

• Why are we not reaching our targets: The gaps in maternal child health (based on research findings from Malawi and Tanzania), Eilish McAuliff, Centre for Global Health, Trinity College (TBC)
• NGO’s contribution to the health MDGs: The experience of Concern, Rosalyn Tamming, Head of the Health Support Unit, Concern Worldwide/Lecturer Centre for Global Health
• The effect of global HIV initiatives on country health systems: what is the evidence? Ruairi Brugha, Chair, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons

Chair: Diarmuid O’Donnovan, Chair Irish Forum for Global Health

Date and time: 16 June 2010, 2.00 – 4.30pm
Venue: Irish Aid Volunteering & Information Centre, 27-31 Upper O’Connell Street Dublin 1

Following the dialogue, tea and coffee will be available so networking can continue.