Obama – making history, improving health?
Today really is a momentous day , not only are the Democrats going to be back in the Whitehouse but America has its first black president. Last night was an evening filled with excitement that I’m sure you all felt. Today in The Lancet Student blog we talk about what Obama could mean for the health of Americans and the world. This blog concentrates on the Obama-Biden plans for health during their term, because it’s important for us to know about what they’re promising at the outset so that we, as part of civil society, can hold them to account in the years to come! If you’d like to write a blog on this or any other topic please do send one in, we’re looking forward to reading them.
courtesy of www.barackobama.com
The Obama-Biden website has a host of information on their policies and plans for the future including on American and Global Health which I’m going to concentrate on today. Before we get onto the health stuff though, I’d just like to highlight to you your chance to send a message to Obama with Avazz. The point is to remind him of all his campaign promises that concern the world before the powerful lobby groups get going! Here’s a quick reminder of his relevant commitments:
- Reduce the US’s carbon emissions 80% by 2050 and play a strong positive role in negotiating a binding global treaty to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol
- Withdraw all combat troops from Iraq within 16 months and keep no permanent bases in the country
- Establish a clear goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons across the globe
- Close the Guantanamo Bay detention center
- Double US aid to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015 and accelerate the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculoses and Malaria
- Open diplomatic talks with countries like Iran and Syria, to pursue peaceful resolution of tensions
- De-politicize military intelligence to avoid ever repeating the kind of manipulation that led the US into Iraq
- Launch a major diplomatic effort to stop the killings in Darfur
- Only negotiate new trade agreements that contain labour and environmental protections
- Invest $150 billion over ten years to support renewable energy and get 1 million plug-in electric cars on the road by 2015
Right, so now for a quick dash through the new policies that could be having an impact on health near you! The policies are very much framed around tackling the Global Burden of HIV/AIDS but they’re more overarching than they first appear.
America is going to be contributing its fair share towards the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria as well as other HIV/AIDS programmes with $50 billion heading in this direction by 2013. Along with this the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief will be refocusing on using best practice rather than being based on ideology a change that is definitely welcome and can’t come soon enough.
They stress that prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS is not to be at the expense of preventing other diseases and improving child survival. They will work to strengthen capacity of health systems and increase access to essential drugs by encouraging sovereign states to use flexibilities within the trade agreement TRIPs.
On top of all of this, there are plans afoot to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, get children into school using a $2 Billion education fund, reducing the debt developing countries have and using the United States’ economic power to help developing countries reap rewards form the global trading system.
Along with this ambitious plan for global health the Obama-Biden camp also have positive plans for health at home. Their 3 key points being to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all, to lower healthcare costs for typical US families and promoting public health.
To achieve these goals they’re looking to address health inequalities by improving access to healthcare, promoting prevention and public health, diversifying the health workforce, promoting evidence based interventions and supporting and expanding safety net institutions.
They’re also looking at the role of corporations in health specifically focussing on ensuring competition within the health insurance industry, decreasing premiums Big Pharma charges US patients and increasing the use of generic drugs within the US.
Other key areas mentioned in their health plans are that of ensuring that all children have health care coverage and making it easier for young people to remain insured once they’re officially adults.
Finally public health gets a big push in these plans with ideas to place preventative health practices in workplaces and schools, more training for primary healthcare providers and they’ll take a look more broadly at the US government’s policies to assess their impact on health.
Some of these policies are fantastic for health both in America and beyond and the new Whitehouse team will be kept very busy bringing them to fruition. It’s now up to civil society around the world to support and encourage the president-elect of the United States to stick to his word.