TAKE ACTION: Tell the Prime Minister to deliver free health care for mums & babies

Written by Jonny Currie, 11 months ago | Permalink | Campaign: Health Systems

Medsin have been asked to support a rapid campaign action to the Prime Minister on Gordon Brown by Wednesday! Gordon Brown has semi-publicly announced his intention to announce the provision of free public health care in a number of developing countries.

To make sure he commits to this, and that it represents a big step forward, we'd like to ask you to e-mail Gordon and explain your position.

PLEASE forward this to your friends, share it on your Facebook, and continue to show your support for free healthcare in poor countries.

Medsin Campaigns Team

Tell the Prime Minister to deliver free health care for mums and babies

Every minute a mother dies needlessly in pregnancy and childbirth because of a lack of basic health care in poor countries. Charging health-care fees creates a huge barrier to access to care. At this year’s UN General Assembly on 23 September, Gordon Brown has a real chance to change this situation.

The Prime Minster has hinted at committing his support for free public health care for mothers and children in a number of poor countries. This is potentially fantastic news, but announcements about free health care are not enough. To ensure that this proposal is a success, this announcement must be backed up with real action, including extra finance and technical support. The Prime Minister needs a big push in the right direction to make this happen.

That’s where you come in - you can give him that push.

Tell Gordon why this matters to you. Visit the Oxfam Take Action site to write a statement to Gordon Brown and we shall deliver these this week.

On the site you can add a few sentences to the statement below. And of course, we shall let you know what difference your campaigning has made.

From http://www.oxfam.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/healthand_education/mums-and-babies.html:

Dear Gordon Brown

Making health care free for mothers and babies in developing countries means a lot to me because…

Key facts

  • Over 9 million children die each year before their fifth birthday, as do more than half a million pregnant women

  • The proposal on the table at the UN is to support at least six developing countries to introduce free health care for women and children or to expand existing access to free health care

  • User fees are the most regressive form of paying for health care available. In Rwanda, when health fees were introduced in 1996, take-up of health services halved

  • Even small payments for healthcare can have a negative impact. In Kenya, charging pregnant women only US$0.75 for an insecticide-treated bed net reduced demand by 75%

  • When health-care fees were removed in Uganda in 2001, service use increased by a whopping 84%. These gains have been sustained because of continued investments in the health-care system

  • More cash needs to be injected, not taken from existing programmes

  • The programme must be expanded to other developing countries

  • This issue demands the highest political priority over the next few weeks from Gordon Brown and all other countries able to tackle this injustice in health

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