Summary

This document provides an overview of Australia's efforts to improve health care in the world's poorest regions.

Description

Saving lives is one of the five strategic goals of Australia's aid program. This includes saving the lives of poor women and children through greater access to quality maternal and child health services (for example, skilled birth attendants and midwives), and supporting large scale disease prevention, vaccination and treatment.

Good health is a human right and a means to achieving other development goals. However, many countries remain off-track to meet the health Millennium Development Goals and the poorest and most vulnerable people continue to bear the greatest burden of ill-health.

Australia has six pillars for our investment in health:

1. Supporting partner countries to deliver more and better-quality health services for poor and vulnerable people
2. Closing the funding gap to provide essential health services for all
3. Empowering poor and vulnerable people to improve their health
4. Working with other sectors, such as education, water and sanitation, and rural development, to address the causes of poor health
5. Reducing the impact of global and regional health threats, particularly in Asia and the Pacific
6. Maximising the impact of Australia's total health ODA investment in partner countries.

Australia will base its investments in health on what works, is effective and achieves results. Australia will provide a mix of support, focussing on funding national health systems, in addition to supporting multilateral health agencies and civil society organisations. Our focus will continue to be on Asia and the Pacific region and we will provide multilateral and regional support where we can be effective.

Saving lives–Improving the health of the world's poor [PDF 1.1mb]
Saving lives–Improving the health of the world's poor [Word 2.4mb]