The UK government announces cuts to ODA, bringing it to the lowest percentage in 25 years
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This week, the UK government announced cuts to Official Development Assistance (ODA), government aid that supports the economic development of low-income countries. The rollback in funding from 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income to 0.3 percent brings it to the lowest level in 25 years and equates to an estimated £5.5 billion.
The news was met with disappointment across the global aid sector. With many health systems in some of the most resource-limited parts of the world still recovering from the damage wrought by the pandemic, cuts to international development assistance for health will only further entrench existing vulnerabilities. The most affected will be those in the most vulnerable circumstances — children under five, women, and marginalised and hard-to-reach communities — for whom reduced access to care for preventable and treatable illnesses such as malaria can be fatal. Indeed, when funding was cut from 0.7 percent to 0.5 percent in 2020, the very same concerns of the fallout in these very contexts was expressed.
“Maintaining progress towards malaria elimination is a global good, with an underlying moral imperative,” says James Tibenderana, Chief Executive of Malaria Consortium. “We must keep sight of this ultimate goal — with sustained actions, investments and innovative solutions, we can pave the way to making history in the malaria space.”
Funding cuts will also mean that future health threats will be more difficult to contain and resolve, potentially leading to full-scale global crises. Rising risks such as drug resistance; insecticide resistance and climate change are shaping health and wellbeing across the world, and need effective solutions.
As seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, public-private-philanthropic partnerships and investing in innovative solutions can play a key role in improving health across the world. This is a time when leveraging collective expertise, organisations like Malaria Consortium, governments, communities, research institutes, philanthropists and the private sector become greater than the sum of their parts, helping to build resilience and to recover from shocks through the exploration of alternative solutions.
“Now, more than ever, it’s crucial that the UK government maintain its leadership and influence in shaping a healthy world, and a world that is freed from the devastating human and socio-economic inequities of malaria,” says Tibenderana.