International Health Partners launch address

Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Cholmondley Room, House of Lords, 11th November 2004

I am delighted to be here, pleased to be able to follow Lord McColl whose work with the Mercy Ships has already made such a remarkable impact on health care in the developing world, and absolutely delighted to welcome the very strong support being demonstrated tonight for this exciting and innovative venture.

It is in my view one of the finest aspects of our political culture in Britain in recent years that – irrespective of party, irrespective of walk of life – so many people from such a wide range of backgrounds have felt so strongly that Britain should take a lead in tackling the challenges of poverty in the developing world.

I became very aware of that strength of feeling when I was a Treasury Minister in the run up to the millennium. The Jubilee 2000 campaign rallied fantastic support from the churches and from right across our society. You might remember that there was a campaign where people sent in postcards with £1 coins sellotaped to the back of them, calling for the cancellation of the debts of the poorest countries. We received them at the Treasury by the sackload. Somehow the Treasury post room managed to spot that one of the cards – from a Mrs Brown in Kirkcaldy, complete with its £1 coin – had actually been sent in by the Chancellor’s mother! She was a wonderful lady and she died just a few weeks ago. Recently the German finance minister complained to Gordon that he was organising people to send him postcards. It all makes an impact.

Reducing global poverty is not just a moral imperative. Its also in our own best interests that we should have a stable and prosperous world, and not one scarred as ours is – and Africa in particular – by searing poverty and disease.

The Millennium Development Goals, which the whole world signed up to in the Millennium Year, provide us with our framework – with targets on halving poverty, improving the environment, and increasing access to education and healthcare.

Good health is key. It is the key to keeping children in school. It is the key to a healthy workforce, to stable jobs and growth and a strong economy. And it is key to happy and fulfilled lives.

A lot of poor countries face very severe health challenges. Health systems are weak – resources are inadequate for infrastructure, staff, equipment, and medicines. The World Health Organisation estimates that a third of the world’s population does not have access to the medicines they need.

And because there is such a range of organisations and people involved in improving health outcomes in developing countries, it is also a very complex area – with variations in coverage, differences in what can be brought to the table, and sometimes disagreements on the best approach to take.

Pharmaceutical companies, the medical community, NGOs and governments need to work together more effectively. The UK policy on access to essential medicines emphasises the need for cooperation, not least in managing donations that are appropriate. And that’s why the International Health Partners initiative is so welcome.

I pay tribute to the hard work which has already been invested by Anthony, but I know he will be the first to acknowledge that there are many challenges ahead. There have been examples in the past of donations which have not been appropriate – for example, of products close to their expiry dates, or of products which are simply not relevant for the most pressing problems in poor countries. So I welcome IHP’s commitment to following the World Health Organisation guidelines and humanitarian protocols to make sure those problems do not undermine this initiative.

In some circumstances, such as humanitarian disasters, donations can play a very important role. Alongside donations, we also need to be developing differential pricing of medicines in poor country markets – selling at or near cost to developing countries facing acute health challenges – to encourage the long term development of sustainable and competitive markets. I welcome the growing support for differential pricing on the part of the pharmaceutical industry itself, which is starting to develop differential pricing schemes for medicines in a number of developing countries.

And it will be equally important that the developing country governments themselves are partners with this initiative and with the industry.

These are complex and demanding challenges, but I am in absolutely no doubt at all that IHP is very well equipped to take them on and succeed, not least given Anthony’s leadership which I was able to admire in his previous role, and given also – and critically – the enthusiastic support and commitment being expressed this evening. In the Treasury we shall be following progress with great interest and it’s a privilege for me to be able to express my good wishes this evening.

Thank you.

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