Members of the Dutch Global Health Alliance
The members of the Dutch Global Health Alliance, (Access to Medicine Foundation, Aidsfonds, Amref Flying Doctors, Cordaid, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, Mainline, NLR, NVTG, PharmAccess, Stichting Vluchteling and Wemos) are dedicated to raising awareness about the need for more concerted global health action and to working towards concrete policy options for the Dutch government that will contribute to stronger health systems worldwide.
Dutch Global Health Strategy 2023-2030
Since it’s inception, the Dutch Global Health Alliance has been advocating for the Netherlands to adopt a global health strategy. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign affairs recently released the first draft Dutch Global Health Strategy 2023-2030: “Working together for health worldwide”. This first draft is just the first step taken by the Netherlands to strengthen the country’s approach to global health. The Dutch Global Health Alliance, will continue to monitor the development of the Dutch Global Health Strategy. Read the summary here.
European Global Health Strategies
In December 2021, the recently formed Dutch government presented their new coalition agreement. The agreement stated their intention to develop a Global Health Strategy (GHS) for the Netherlands. The idea of a Global Health Strategy is not new, and various European countries already have strategies or policy documents relating to their efforts on Global Health. The DGHA has prepared a document presenting the common elements, differences and opportunities for the Netherlands in relation to other GHSs (Norway, Sweden, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland), which the alliance has analysed and summarised.
Download the full document here.
A Dutch Global Health Strategy: linking national and international policies for health for all
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown again that viruses do not know borders. The health of people in one place is dependent upon the health of people elsewhere. We are all currently confronted with the disastrous consequences of COVID-19, and with the aggravation from the measures taken, to control its spread. Not only is global public health and health security are at stake, but also economic and social stability are jeopardized, with the livelihood of millions of people worldwide under severe and increasing pressure.
This global health crisis clearly demonstrates the centrality of health in all our lives and its influence upon different areas of our societies. It cannot be any more apparent, that we require an integral, overarching, multi-sectoral approach, in dealing with this virus. Therefore, The Netherlands must develop a global health strategy, which takes all these dimensions of health into account. Only in this way, we can initiate and nurture sustainable solutions against the current health crisis and offer a roadmap in preventing future ones.
The Dutch Global Health Alliance (DGHA) has taken this first step, by developing a document that offers a clear direction for such a strategy. The document highlights the principles, elements and processes needed to develop a strong global health strategy for the Netherlands.
Member of Parliament Anne Kuik (CDA) is driving the parliamentary call for the Netherlands to develop such a strategy. In an earlier motion filed December 2020, she called upon the government to prepare a study that would look into the added value and opportunities of a Dutch Global Health Strategy. This motion was adopted with a large majority of votes. In addition, the House of Representatives will decide this Thursday 25th of February, on whether to request an official advice from the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) for the need of such a global health strategy. This would be a great next step in moving towards an integral strategy which not only looks at the current pandemic, but at making us safer against any future ones.
The DGHA will continue to work closely together with all stakeholders involved in the development of a future Dutch Global Health Strategy.
Co-Creation Conference Policy Brief to the Advisory Council on International Affairs
During the recent co-creation conference more than 40 representatives from the alliance, civil society organizations, academic institutions, private sector, and governmental institutions participated in sessions with the aim of providing joint input for the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) advice regarding the development of a Dutch Global Health Strategy. The result was a policy brief compiled on the basis of the reflections gathered during the conference.
Het Grote Buitenlanddebat
24th February 2020
Covid-19 has shown that global health has a big impact on the rest of the world. In the run-up to the Dutch elections, various Dutch politicians discussed the future of the Netherlands in the world in the ‘Het Grote Buitenlanddebat’
Hosted by Sophie Derkzen (Bureau Buitenland, VPRO) and against the clock, participants debated three current topics: Climate, Agriculture & Nature, Trade & International Cooperation, and Global Health.
Webinar: Investing in Health Workers
Education and Remuneration to Ensure Retention
On Friday 4 December 2020, the Dutch Global Health Alliance organized an online panel discussion entitled ‘Investing in Health Workers’. The aim was to provide the Dutch government with recommendations to further develop their investments in the health workforce.
The panel consisted of an interesting mix of professionals from different sectors, with a shared passion for the health workforce, namely: Margaret Kilonzo (community health worker in Africa’s biggest slum: Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya), Maisa Elfadul (researcher and health systems analyst from Sudan), Ghassan Karem (physician and director of the Primary Health Care Institute in Libya) and Noortje Verhart (SRHR Portfolio Manager at the Dutch Embassy in Bamako, Mali). They each brought in their valuable and complementary perspectives on health workforce strengthening and their perceptions on the role of donors, which resulted in a fruitful and lively debate. This document linked below offers a summary of the discussion and the key recommendations.
Webinar: Local Data, Local Decisions
The first webinar by the alliance took place on July 2, 2020, and taught about how data works and should work in global health.
Many Dutch development organisations and knowledge institutes are working with low- and middle-income countries to promote the use of subnational data as a means of encouraging locally-tailored decision-making in public health.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of doing this is clearer than ever: when lockdowns are imposed across an entire country, without nuance to reflect local variations in the epidemic, people and economies suffer more than necessary.
In this webinar – led by three alliance members Cordaid, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, and KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation – country partners from Ethiopia, Pakistan and Rwanda shared their experiences with and perceptions of subnational data for health planning, including lessons learned from previous public health emergencies like the tuberculosis epidemic.