With the 69th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly opening this week in New York and the global community debating how best to refine the post-2015 development agenda, over 150 organizations and individuals signed a petition to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Member States urging the UN to keep the research, development, and delivery of new and improved health tools at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda.
Specifically, the petition—which was circulated by GHTC, the Council on Health Research for Development, and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative—requests that the “UN fully supports in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals [(SDGs)]-Framework the research, development, and delivery of new and improved medicines, vaccines, and other health tools for the diseases and health conditions that predominantly affect low- and middle-income countries as well as marginalized, vulnerable populations globally.”
The signing organizations and individuals represent a diverse group of research and academic institutions, private sector entities, and nongovernmental organizations from all regions of the globe: Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North and South America.
GHTC is pleased to see such broad and substantial support for the inclusion of health R&D components in the post-2015 agenda, and hopes that the Member States and officials who are shaping the agenda will take note.
Below is the full text of the petition and list of signatories:
Excellency, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Member States of the UN,
We, the below signatory organizations request that the UN fully supports in the post-2015 SDG-Framework the research, development, and delivery of new and improved medicines, vaccines, and other health tools for the diseases and health conditions that predominantly affect low- and middle-income countries as well as marginalized, vulnerable populations globally.
Thanks to the leadership of the UN and investments by Member States, the current Millennium Development Goals have made major contributions to improving the health and lives of millions of people around the world. A sustained focus on some of the greatest global health challenges has led to enormous progress in many areas, including significant improvements in the development and delivery of health tools such as drugs to treat HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. Efforts to tackle diseases have also helped underpin progress in other important areas, such as gender equality, child mortality, and maternal health. Millions of lives have been saved.
However, major challenges remain, and the health burden imposed by poverty remains far too high. In this context, it is essential that the post-2015 development agenda retains a strong focus on eliminating poverty-related diseases and conditions. The post-2015 agenda must build on previous achievements to ensure that healthy lives and access to health services can be achieved in an equitable and sustainable way, leaving no one behind. This means ensuring universal access to proven health interventions. But it also means developing and delivering new health technologies which can help address the shortcomings of existing interventions and sustainably reduce morbidity and mortality over the longer term. This will require continued support for the research, development, and delivery of new tools to the combat major epidemics like HIV and AIDS, TB, and malaria, as well as other poverty-related diseases and conditions ranging from neglected tropical diseases to reproductive, maternal, and child health. Continuous investment of human and financial resources in science, technology, and innovation is essential to achieve both economic and social development for all.
We are encouraged by the current inclusion of the need to support the development of new medicines and vaccines for diseases particularly affecting developing countries in the Zero Draft document of the SDGs. Concern remains, however, about the omission of medical devices and diagnostics which also contribute to improving health outcomes, the lack of clarity on how this effort will be funded, and how supporting policies, incentives, capacity building, collaboration, and knowledge and technology sharing will be defined and implemented.
As organizations working to save lives and improve health, we urge you to commit explicit and full support to health research and related policies and capacity building as a core component of a new, post-2015 agenda for equitable health and sustainable development for all. We ask that you press Member States to offer similar support, and to formally assess how to measure progress towards this goal, and how to fully and sustainably finance and enable the research, development, and delivery of essential new and improved health tools.
Sincerely,
ACTION
Aeras
African Services Committee
AIDS-Fondet
Amsterdam Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Asociacion Gestion Salud Poblacion
Association of Commonwealth Universities
AVAC
Bishkek Feminist Collective SQ
Boston University
Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research
Canadian HIV and AIDS Legal Network
Caribbean Public Health Agency
Caribbean Vulnerable Communities
Ciflorpan, University of Panamá
COHRED
Comité Nacional Cubano de Bioética
Community Health Evangelism Programme
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
Department of Epidemiology, University Hospital F Hached, Tunisia
Department of Psychiatry, Chiang Mai University
Dept of Paediatrics, IrruaTeaching Hospital Edo State Nigeria
Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung
Development of People's Foundation
Drug Discovery Unit, University of Dundee
Drugs for Neglected Diseasesinitiative
Duke University
ECOM - Eurasian Coalition on Male Health
Egerton University
Estonian Network PLWHIV
European Investment Bank
European Public Health Association
Euvadis
Facultad de Quimica, Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay
Faculty of Tropical Medicine
Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
FIND
FIOCRUZ
Fiocruz Minas
Friends Africa (Friends of the Global Fund Africa)
GAT
George Institute
GESPAM
GlaxoSmithKline
Global Alliance for TB Drug Development
Global Health Advocates
Global Health Consulting
Global Health Council
Global Health Technologies Coalition
Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise
Government of Kenya
gTt-VIH (Spain)
Hanoi School of Public Health
Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria Edo State Chapter,
HKMU
Hospital Nelson Piccolo
Hospital Sionsberg
Hubert Kairuki Memorial University
icddr,b
IHCAI Foundation
INDEPTH Network
Institute of Human Nutrition and Food
Institute of Tropical Medicine
Institute Tropical Medicine Antwerp
Instituto de Investigaciones Epidemiologicas, Academia Nacional de Medicina, Buenos Aires
Instituto de Observação da Terra
Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde
Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development
International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
International Consortium on Anti-Virals
International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development
International Partnership for Microbicides
International Vaccine Institute
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Kairuki Memorial University
Kapkatet medical training Centre
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics
Koningklijk Instituut voor de Tropen
Kyrgyz Indigo
La Gazette
Law Office of Laurel G. Yancey, P.C.
Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe
Medicines for Malaria Venture
menZDRAV Foundation
Micro Insurance Academy
Ministry of Education and Sports, Philippines
Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Tanzania
Ministry of Health, Barbados
National AIDS Research Institute
National Institute of Health Research & Development
NEPAD Science, Technology and Innovation Hub
Netherlands Health Research Organization
Nige Academy of Science
North Eastern Council, Health Adviser
One child-one world
One Family Health
Oswaldo Cruz Institute
Parviflora Research Organization
PATH
People’s Health Movement
Philippine Council for Health Research and Development
Philippine Department of Health
Policy Cures
Population Council
Public Health Institute
Public Private Partnership Health Society
RALSA Foundation
Research Department, National Hospital Rosales
Research into Cultura and Reproductive Health For Sustainable Human Development (RECARDEV)
RESULTS UK
Royal Tropical Institute, Netherlands
Rural Community Health Research
SA Medical Research Council
Sabin Vaccine Institute
School of Population Health, University of Queensland
Section of Infectious Diseases, Dept of Medicine, St Luke's Medical Center, QC, Philippines
Sensoa
South Africa-Department of Health
South African Research Ethics Training Initiative
STOP AIDS
Swiss Tropical & Public Health Institute
The Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies
The Environment Ameliorators
The University of Western Australia
Tools To Work
Treatment Action Group
Uhamka University
Unidad de Investigacion Cientifica, Facultad de Ciencias Medicas, UNAH
Universidad del Valle
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Universidade de Sao Paulo
University of Bergen
University of Birmingham
University of Brasilia
University of Cagliari
University of California, Irvine
University of Cape Coast
University of Edinburgh
University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho. Ghana
University of KwaZulu-Natal
University of Melbourne
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
University of Oslo
University of the Witwatersrand
Washington Global Health Alliance
Y+ Network
Individuals:
Alix Beith
Francesca Coloni
Franko Family
Wanjiku Kabiru
Malcolm McNeil
Ophelia Mendoza
Ellene Mocria