"Improving the health and longevity of the poor is an end in itself, a fundamental goal of economic development. But it is also a means to achieving the other development goals relating to poverty reduction."
Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, WHO 2001

Doctors of the World UK has joined the joint NGO Vote Global Manifesto, where health is highlighted as a key human right for everyone and a public service that UK aid needs to support.

The UK has demonstrated consistent leadership on international development and global health. In 2010, with just five years left to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), urgent action is still needed.

National health care provision will be a major issue in the UK general election. It is also a critical global problem: inadequate access to healthcare means that almost half a million women every year die of preventable pregnancy-related illnesses.

Action for Global Health, in collaboration with the health and development NGOs, calls on the next UK Government to take action to fulfil long-held UK commitments and ensure the health MDGs can be met.

Read the Action for Global Health report: RIGHTING HEALTH: A call for UK action to improve health in developing countries