2007 annual report

Overview

As Dr Margaret Chan, Director General of WHO has said, global health “has never before received such attention or enjoyed such wealth.” At the global level, 2007 heralded at least three major new initiatives, including the International Health Partnership, the Canadian Catalytic Initiative and the Norwegian MDG 4 and 5 initiative. These initiatives are designed to generate greater efforts in the health sector, increase the external resources available for health in poor countries, and enhance coordination and alignment.

The need to strengthen health systems has emerged during the past year as a clear priority. And, as the excerpt from the WHO Director General’s speech above alludes to, there is increasing recognition that better knowledge about health systems is required to make sure that increased investment in health systems strengthening constitutes a sound investment.

The title of this report, “Riding a Wave of Change”, refers not only to the flood of changes in development assistance for global health but also to the evolving discussions about the nature of funding for research in the field.