London, 10 June 2019: Brick by Brick: Accelerating progress on global health, a new report by RESULTS UK released today, calls on the UK Government to go further and faster in their efforts to tackle inequalities by investing in global health multilaterals and strategic partnerships to strengthen health systems, brick by brick.

The report sets out the opportunities for the UK to deliver on the UK Aid Strategy and to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, including universal health coverage (UHC), not only through ambitious financial commitments, but also through promoting sustainability, and increased collaboration and integration.

RESULTS UK is calling for the UK to remain a leading donor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund), the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), as well as renew its commitment to nutrition at the 2020 Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit. These investments save lives, strengthen health systems and increase equitable access to a full package of essential services.

However, many health challenges remain, for example 1 in 10 children are unvaccinated, rates of undernutrition are rising, and tuberculosis (TB) kills a person approximately every 18 seconds. These challenges could be individually addressed, but it is more efficient and effective to address them collectively, with each one benefitting the other. For example, an undernourished person is 3 times more likely to develop TB.

Aaron Oxley, Executive Director, RESULTS UK says, “UHC is an ambitious but achievable goal if we deliberately build towards it, brick by brick. But when we build, one brick out of place risks destablising the entire structure and in the context of UHC this risk is to human lives. The next 18 months gives a fabulous opportunity to ensure we put all the bricks are in place for people to not just survive but thrive.”

ENDS

RESULTS UK is a movement of passionate, committed, everyday people. Together we use our voices to influence political decisions that will bring an end to extreme poverty.

If you have any questions or if you would like to arrange an interview with Aaron Oxley, please contact Rachael Hore at [email protected] or on +44 20 77933970.

The multilaterals and partnerships:

  • Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance: Founded in 2000, an alliance of key development partners and the private sector, with the mission to save children’s lives and protect people’s health by increasing equitable use of vaccines in lower-income countries. Since 2000, it has vaccinated over 700 million children, averting over 10 million future deaths.
  • The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria: A partnership founded in 2002 between governments; civil society; the private sector; and people affected by AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria to accelerate the end of these three diseases. Since 2002, it has helped to save 27 million lives.
  • The Global Polio Eradication Initiative: A public–private partnership led by national governments with five partners, with the goal of eradicating polio worldwide. It vaccinates over 450 million children against polio every year.
  • Nutrition for Growth: A partnership established in 2013 to drive new commitments and steps to end malnutrition in all forms by 2030. There have been over 200 global commitments to reduce stunting and save the lives of 2 million children.