[stop-imf] New Christian Aid report on debt and healthcare

[Robert Weissman]

To see the full report, go to
http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/f_reports.htm

Millennium lottery
             Who lives, who dies in an age of Third World debt?

             Executive summary

             All over the world, children's chances of surviving infancy
have been steadily improving during our century. As the new
             millennium dawns, a baby born in Britain will be able to look
forward to a rosy future. A boy is likely to live to 74, a girl to 79. 

             Yet in Africa, millions will fail to make it into adulthood.
More than 130,000 children die there every week. In Mali a child has
             a one in seven chance of dying before its first birthday. In
the UK it is a mere 1 in 167.0.1 

             Meanwhile each of us in Britain spends more each year (around
140) on toiletries, medicines and medical costs, including
             prescriptions and spectacles, than the per capita Gross
National Product of countries like Mozambique, Ethiopia and
             Tanzania.0.2 

             Why is survival for poor people in Africa getting harder? One
clearly identifiable - and solvable -cause is the huge amount of
             money poor countries are having to pay rich governments and
international institutions in debt repayments. The only way
             most of these countries can pay these sums is to resort to
taking the money from their people - by cutting essential
             services like health and education. The West, led by the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is
             manifestly letting the people of Africa down. 

             But as the millennium ends, there are signs of hope. 1999 has
seen major steps forward in tackling these debts. Both the
             G8 nations at the summit in Cologne and the IMF at its
meeting in Washington seem, on paper at least, to have shifted their
             thinking. They made promises which could save thousands of
lives. 

             Promises have been made before. The president of the World
Bank told its governors that he wanted to provide
             assistance where it would contribute most to 'removing the
roadblocks to development'. That was Robert McNamara in
             1969. 

             Thirty years on, the hindrances to development are as serious
as ever, and fears about the lack of progress are growing. In
             a letter to Gerhard Schrder, the German chancellor, last
June, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the secretary general of the
             Commonwealth, said: 'In my travels to various countries,
particularly the poorest, I notice a sense of desperation on the part
             of a number of highly indebted countries about the lack of
tangible progress in easing their debt burden.' 

             This report looks at just one issue - health in Africa and,
in particular, child health - as a microcosm of the problem. We show
             the devastating effect of years of impoverishment and the
enormous difficulties the poorest countries face in providing
             even the most basic of services. Some spend as little as 3 a
head on health per year.0.3 In the US, health spending per
             capita is 2,200. 

             The state of child health depends on many factors - including
access to clean water, sanitation and education. But if you
             are a small child and there is no clinic or hospital
available when you fall ill with easily curable symptoms like diarrhoea,
the
             chances you will die are very real. This report points to
health services as the sine qua non of survival in Africa. 

             Some countries pay more on servicing old foreign debts than
on education, health and the whole social sector combined.
             This is clearly madness. In the words of Professor Venkatesh
Seshamani, a leading Zambian economist: 'You cannot have
             both debt and development - they are antithetical.' 

             The leaders of the G8 nations, the most powerful countries on
earth, have finally begun to acknowledge this. In response
             to public pressure, spearheaded by the campaign by Christian
Aid and other members of the Jubilee 2000 coalition, they
             have promised to help. 

             Jubilee 2000 is calling for a one-off cancellation of debt as
a celebration of the millennium. That means this year. Joint -
             multilateral - decisions may have to wait until the G8 summit
in Japan in July. But there is much that could be done before
             then. 

             The new millennium must begin with new hope. Christian Aid
calls upon the British government to unilaterally cancel
             British debts as a New Year's gift to the poorest peoples of
the world.

             References
             0.1 UNDP, Human Development Report 1999. 
             0.2 Office for National Statistics. 
             0.3 World Bank 1999, D. Peters et al. 'Health expenditure,
services and outcomes in Africa 1990-96'. 


             Contents

             Please note that the report is around 122KB in size and will
take a few seconds to load. 

             Chapter 1: It's a rich man's world

             Chapter 2: The language of change

             Chapter 3: The international response...

             Chapter 4: The economics of poverty

             Chapter 5: Suffer the little children

             Chapter 6: Born on the millennium

             Chapter 7: Why should they have to pay?

             Chapter 8: Moving to a solution

             Chapter 9: An action plan

             Appendices

             References