Sri Lanka hosts ECOSOC Regional Ministerial Meeting on “Financing Strategies for Healthcare”

(March 13, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The ECOSOC Regional Ministerial Meeting on “Financial Strategies for Healthcare”, jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Healthcare & Nutrition under the framework of the United Nations Economic and Social Council is scheduled to take place in Colombo and Kandy from 16th to 18th March 2009. The Ministry of Finance & Planning has also been associated with this initiative.

The international partners supporting this Meeting are the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP).

At the 2005 World Summit of the United Nations, Heads of State or Government established the Annual Ministerial Review of the Economic and Social Council. The objective of the Review is to track the progress made in achieving the realization of the internationally agreed Development Goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the 2015 target date.

The theme for the 2009 Review is “Financing Strategies for Healthcare”. It may be recalled that a number of MDGs relate directly and indirectly to the healthcare sector.

Several Government delegations attending the Meeting will be led at the level of Government Ministers. Senior representatives of the UN Secretariat, key UN agencies, academics, experts and others specialists in the healthcare sector are also expected to participate in the Meeting. The Chairman of the Group of 77 Developing Countries (G 77) of the UN, and the Vice President of the United Nations Economic & Social Council will attend the Meeting as well.

The objective of the Meeting is to discuss key issues which stand in the way of developing countries, particularly in the Asian region, achieving the health related MDGs. This Meeting takes place against the background of the current global economic downturn, including the global food shortfall, the energy crisis and in particular the worldwide financial crisis. The Meeting will also address the issue of healthcare in crisis situations. In this regard, the Government’s success in providing healthcare infrastructure and delivery for over two decades to the North and the East will be highlighted.

The Government of Sri Lanka has expressed its full commitment to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target date of 2015. A recent review of Sri Lanka’s progress towards the MDGs indicates that at the national level, the country is well on track to achieve the MDGs. Sri Lanka’s progress in the healthcare sector has been recognized for several decades and Sri Lanka is therefore particularly pleased to host of the ECOSOC Regional Ministerial Meeting on “Financing Strategies for Healthcare”. -Sri Lanka Guardian