Health is a Human Right

Exhibition at the European Development Days 2013

Health and access to healthcare is a universal human right. But it is still not a reality for many people in the world, particularly in developing countries where ill-health is both a consequence and a cause of poverty. Every year, catastrophic health costs push 100 million people into poverty (WHO). Poor health also keeps many more from climbing out of poverty by, for example, limiting the ability to work and preventing children from attending school.

The EU has been a leader in Global Health and has developed a strong vision of its future role as highlighted in the EC Communication and Council Conclusions on Global Health, soon to be followed by a concrete plan of action. Efforts by the EU and member states over the past ten years have also shown how effective health ODA and partnerships with Southern governments can be. However, health in developing countries risks receiving less funding in the future.

This exhibition looks at what we can learn from the MDGs and the issues that Southern countries and their citizens still face. But it also shows that aid for health works and how national initiatives to realise the right to health for all and reach universal access to healthcare have made an impact. It acknowledges the tremendous steps forward that have been made in the past decades and looks to the future of health development Post-2015.