One Belt One Road partner countries meet in Beijing to fund health research and security
07-Sep-17, The Lancet
At the Belt and Road High-level Meeting for Health Cooperation in Beijing in Aug-17, delegates from 20-30 countries plus WHO, UNAIDS, the GAVI Alliance, and the Global Fund signed a communiqué aimed at increasing collaboration on research, health security, and education among the countries of China's Belt and Road Initiative.
%20The%20Conversation.jpg "One Belt One Road partner countries meet in Beijing to fund health research and security (c) The Conversation")
Image: The Conversation
One Belt One Road is a colossally ambitious developmental infrastructure project which China hopes will engage 64 countries. If all 64 countries eventually commit to the project, the project will encompass nearly two-thirds of the world's population. The formal inclusion of health in what is essentially a gigantic trade deal, is good news indeed.
Signatories to the so-called Health Silk Road communiqué affirmed their commitment to the core missions of health systems strengthening and universal health coverage, including to “formally incorporate training, remuneration and integration of community health workers into national health systems”. The role of traditional medicine within the health system was also championed in the communiqué.