{"id":10524,"date":"2014-09-29T13:39:55","date_gmt":"2014-09-29T13:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/?p=10524"},"modified":"2014-09-30T08:52:27","modified_gmt":"2014-09-30T08:52:27","slug":"health-ministers-assess-the-impact-of-the-millennium-development-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/2014\/09\/health-ministers-assess-the-impact-of-the-millennium-development-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Health ministers assess the impact of the Millennium Development Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"14217107795_a8ab2246a9_o-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although some countries are unlikely to meet their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, the targets have brought about substantial improvements in key areas, such as reducing under-five and maternal mortality, and increasing immunisation coverage.<\/p>\n

This was the view of Commonwealth health ministers attending the annual Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in May. The meeting had the theme Commonwealth Post-2015 Health Agenda: Strengthening Health Policies and Systems.<\/p>\n

Ministers noted that the MDGs had positioned health near the top of the development agenda and that the focus on under-five and maternal mortality, immunisation programmes, and access to TB and HIV treatment, meant that health in these areas had seen significant progress since the goals were established \u2013 even in countries that are unlikely to meet their targets by the cut-off date.<\/p>\n

Malaysia\u2019s Minister of Health, Datuk Seri Dr Subramaniam, said: \u201cWhile there will be different levels of achievements of the Millennium Development Goals among our member countries, as a global entity we have to have targets and agendas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main challenges that we face [in Malaysia] are non-communicable diseases and increasing lifespan and its effect on health costs. This will be our main issue post-2015.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three health MDGs are:<\/p>\n