Ein Mann untersucht die Augen einer Frau mit Refaktionsbrille © CBM/Hayduk

Inclusive healthcare: our demands

Few people in low- and middle-income countries can access appropriate prevention and medical treatment. The risk of disability is significantly higher for persons without disabilities, who often have poor healthcare.

We therefore demand that

  • Universal access to health care services (Universal Health Coverage/UHC) is possible for everyone. It must be easy for everyone to find, accessible without barriers, comprehensively usable and affordable.

  • The German government is significantly increasing its financial commitment to combating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

  • Inclusive prevention, healthcare, rehabilitation and participation are prominently anchored in the German government's new strategy on global health. This must be reflected in all areas and processes of bilateral and multilateral development cooperation.
     

Healthcare also includes education

Healthcare in economically poor regions must be more than just medical care. All over the world, healthcare systems should be geared towards preventing, recognising and treating impairments and medically rehabilitating their consequences, for example, with visual aids, hearing aids, prostheses, wheelchairs, etc. This involves more than just medical care.

This involves more than just medical care. Health education and information are as important as water supply, sanitary facilities and hygiene measures (WASH). The coronavirus pandemic, which has hit people with disabilities particularly hard, has made this drastically clear.
 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that more than one billion people are directly affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). These include eye diseases such as trachoma and river blindness (onchocerciasis). The WHO categorises a total of 20 diseases as NTDs.

If left untreated, they lead to severe and permanent impairments, often also to death - either through the disease itself or through increased susceptibility to other diseases. The global burden of disease caused by neglected and poverty-related tropical diseases is immense and comparable to that of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Interdisciplinary cooperation is essential


In the following PDF "Fighting trachoma and other NTDs" you will find a good practice example from our project work: A CBM partner in Ethiopia is fighting neglected tropical diseases and thus strengthening the health system. It illustrates the importance of interdisciplinary cooperation when it comes to global health. Our political demands are also briefly outlined.
 

Strong partnerships made trachoma elimination in Burundi a reality

Our collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Burundi and partners such as WHO, WHO-ESPEN, and The END Fund facilitated the successful elimination of trachoma in Burundi.

  • Titel des Infoblatts "Trachom und andere NTDs bekämpfen"

    Combating Trachoma and other NTD – Good Practice Example

    pdf, 2.9MB, Accessible

    Combating neglected tropical diseases (NTD) strengthens health systems: In Ethiopia, CBM’s trachoma programs combine disease treatment and prevention with health education. They also improve water supply and sanitary infrastructure.

    Download

Working together for better healthcare worldwide

We are politically active in the field of global health in the following civil society alliances in Germany:

  • German Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (DNTD)
    German WASH Network

  • "Health" working group in the umbrella organisation of development non-governmental organisations (VENRO-Verband Entwicklungspolitik und Humanitäre Hilfe)

  • Global Health Hub Germany

  • Global Health Alliance

As part of these alliances, we work with other development cooperation and humanitarian aid organisations and partners from research and the private sector.

CBM has consultative status with the WHO.

Do you have any questions?

Our global health experts will be happy to help you:

Find out more about our other demands

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