Page 156 - Prioridades en salud y salud intercultural

Duncan Pedersen
156
case of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria, the availability of vaccines,
drugs and different biotechnologies
in themselves do not necessarily
represent the ultimate solution. It
is the transformation of this new
knowledge into effective services
and interventions in resource-poor
environments and its adaptation to
local cultures what remains most
critical to collective health. On the
other hand, current trends in glob-
al economic policy, emphasizing a
smaller role for governments and a
larger role for market forces, aiming
towards curative profit-making ser-
vices, are in potential conflict with
some central concerns of public
health. The health status of margin-
alized populations has been shown
to be jeopardized when privatiza-
tion in health financing and access
to health care technologies are in-
adequately regulated(1).
A few years ago, funding for global
health was dwindling down and
available resources were clearly
insufficient to effectively tackle
the diseases of the poor. In the
last decade however, the situation
has changed dramatically and sig-
nificant financial resources from
public and private sources have
been allocated to fighting disease in
the developing world. New fund-
dispersal mechanisms have been
created, such as the Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and
Malaria, which receives donations
from governments, philanthropies
and corporations, as well as the ex-
plosion of humanitarian agencies
and thousands of NGOs operating
at international, national and local
levels are all engaged in a myriad of
global and local health initiatives3.
The World Bank has increased its
health spending on HIV/AIDS, tu-
berculosis, malaria, and maternal
and child health; as well as the
IMF, the OECD and the G-8 na-
tions have made additional fund-
ing available to fight diseases in the
poor countries. In the U.S, billions
of dollars donated by individuals,
corporations and private founda-
tions are readily available for con-
ducting global health interventions
mostly aimed at the delivery of
3 For example, it has been estimated
in more than 60,000 the number of
NGOs active in AIDS-related progra-
ms (Garrett L. The Challenge of Global
Health. Foreign Affairs 2007; 86(1): 14-
38).