The heads of several organizations involved in public health issues worldwide on Tuesday called on the Group of Eight industrialized nations to invest more resources in health and disease programs, the AP/USA Today reports.
In an open letter in the International Herald Tribune, the public health leaders said that G8 leaders should bolster long-term efforts to address HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases to build on progress made from previous commitments. The letter was signed by the heads of the World Health Organization; UNICEF; UNAIDS; the U.N. Population Fund; the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the GAVI Alliance; the World Bank; and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (AP/USA Today, 6/9).
The letter was published ahead of the G8 summit next month in Hokkaido, Japan. According to the public health leaders, the previous summit hosted by Japan in Okinawa in 2000 prompted efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other diseases. "Without doubt, the spirit of Okinawa drove efforts that improved the health of millions of people," they wrote, adding, "Now, the Hokkaido summit presents Japan and its fellow G8 leaders with an ideal opportunity to protect these achievements, to renew existing commitments to reproductive health and fight against HIV, TB and malaria, to finish polio eradication and to address the terrible gaps that remain in public health" (Kyodo News, 6/9).