The German Healthcare Partnership (GHP) celebrated its five-year anniversary on 24 November in Berlin, Germany. GHP was founded in 2010 by the German Federation of Industries and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development to strengthen health systems in developing countries.
Speaking at the event, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Luiz Loures pointed out that the AIDS response has been unique in terms of the partnerships it has created, bringing together political commitment, social mobilization and science. He also highlighted the added value of private sector engagement in public health and especially in the context of HIV, where it has made significant contributions in terms of innovation, technical knowledge and resources.
The event was also attended by Parliamentary State Secretary and Vice Minister of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Brigitte Zypries and Parliamentary State Secretary and Vice Minister of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Thomas Silberhorn, who stressed that funding for development and cooperation is important, but that the private sector also needs to invest in improving health infrastructure, education and capacity-building, which are all key elements of health systems strengthening.
Mr Loures met with Tobias Bergner, Coordinator for the Foreign Policy Dimension of Global Health Issues for the German Foreign Office, and representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health. He praised Germany’s leadership on global health and its engagement with regard to global health architecture reform and encouraged Germany’s continued commitment to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
While in Berlin, Mr Loures also presented the 2015 UNAIDS World AIDS Day report, together with Elisabeth Pott, Chief Executive Officer of the German AIDS Foundation.
“The challenge today is to make HIV services accessible to everybody. UNAIDS is proud to collaborate with partners, including the German Healthcare Partnership, who can foster innovative partnerships with the private sector and help us reach people with HIV testing and treatment services.”
Luiz Loures, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director
“Striving for the ideal goal of universal health coverage, especially in developing and emerging countries, is connected to highly complex challenges. From previous health crises like the last Ebola outbreak, it could be clearly derived that both needs to be strengthened—basic health-care services delivering the solid fundamentals required in any health system, as well as pillars focusing on specific fields, for example the fight against HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, and increasingly against cardiovascular diseases and cancer.”
Roland Göhde, Chairman of the Board, German Healthcare Partnership
