Global health post-2015: the case for universal health equity

Abstract

Set in 2000, with a completion date of 2015, the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals is approaching, at which time a new global development infrastructure will become operational. Unsurprisingly, the discussions on goals, topics, priorities and monitoring and evaluation are gaining momentum. But this is a critical juncture. Over a decade of development programming offers a unique opportunity to reflect on its structure, function and purpose in a contemporary global context. This article examines the topic from an analytical health perspective and identifies universal health equity as an operational and analytical priority to encourage attention to the root causes of unnecessary and unfair illness and disease from the perspectives of those for whom the issues have most direct relevance.

• Millennium Development Goals
• post-2015 development
• sustainable development
• global health
• equity

Acknowledgements

This review was undertaken within the Umeå Centre for Global Health Research, with support from FAS, the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (grant no. 2006–1512).

Conflict of interest and funding

The author has not received any funding or benefits from industry or elsewhere to conduct this study.

Notes

1 In the report Realizing the Future We Want For All, the UNTT set out a vision for the future of development comprising three core values: human rights, equality and sustainability. From this, four key dimensions are derived: inclusive social development, environmental sustainability, inclusive economic development and peace and security (10).

2 The core values of the Millennium Declaration are freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility (56).