Our year overview 2023 is now out.With this publication, we are proud to show how we worked on our ambitions to achieve global health justice last year. With our passionate team of experts and partners around the world, we are determined to continue influencing policy and to bring about structural change, for a healthier world for everyone.
A snapshot of our achievements in 2023
Together with Akina Mama wa Afrika, we influenced the United Nations’ (UN) political declaration on universal health coverage (UHC), amongst others through a statement at the UN high-level meeting on UHC in September. The final declaration reflects some of our recommendations. For example, it recognizes UHC as a public issue that should be publicly funded and omits a misleading paragraph on stimulating private financing in healthcare.
Within our Make Way programme, we launched a website with a toolkit to advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Intersectional Community Scorecard facilitates youth with working with decision-makers and identifying challenges in accessing youth-friendly services at health clinics. This resulted in increased availability of contraceptives, the construction of a safe space for young people, nurses learning sign language, improved opening hours and more accessible infrastructure across partner countries in Africa.
We launched a public campaign for fair pricing of medicines. This included a video in which Dutch comedian Roel Maalderink shocks people on the street with the high prices of his fictional company’s new medicines. In a manifesto we call on the Dutch government to take action to guarantee access to medicines and healthcare for everyone. The video got over a million views on LinkedIn and Instagram and sparked much online discussion and support.
At EU level, we contributed to improved understanding of medical deserts: areas where access to healthcare services is limited. We presented our recommendations to Members of European Parliament and policymakers at our policy dialogue event in the European Parliament in Brussels. Policymakers increasingly acknowledge the urgency to address Europe’s health workforce crisis.
We became a partner in the Global Health Hub Netherlands, a network of organizations working together on global health, set up by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health. The hub should stimulate and guide the implementation of the Dutch global health strategy, aimed at improving public health around the world.
