Government Reports and Policies following the UN Millenium Summit
After the Millenium Summit in 2000, when the UK was signatory to the Millenium Declaration, there was a significant increase in attention given by the government to the issue of overseas aid. In 2005, the UK hosted a summit of the G8 countries at Gleneagles where a committment was made to provide $50 billion per year in Overseas Development Aid to Africa by 2010. It was after this that a series of reports were produced, which influenced government policy.
Crisp Report
Following the Gleneagles summit, the Prime Minister and the Secretaries of State for Health and International Development invited Lord Crisp to look at how UK experience and expertise in health could be used to best effect to help improve health in developing countries. This lead in February 2007 to the production of the Crisp Report "Global Health Partnerships: the UK Contribution to Health in Developing Countries."
The report noted the need for education and training for staff in developing countries and advocated the development of more partnerships and exchanges with NHS organisations and that the effectiveness of this could be enhanced by better co-ordination.
Government's Response to the Crisp Report and Government Strategy, 2008
The Government's response to the Crisp Report came in March, 2008 and broadly supported the proposals in the report. Changes were made in the way that funding was provided to support health partnerships (now through the Tropical Health Education Trust) and work was initiated to develop guidance for the NHS in the way it becomes involved in international development.
This lead to the publication in September, 2008, of Health is Global: a UK Government Strategy 2008-13. It outlined a set of principles and actions that the UK Government would focus on over the next five years to improve health across the world, including the UK, in partnership with others.
It went beyond what others have done by mapping where global health issues arise across a whole range of government business including security, development, trade, the way it works with international institutions and how evidence is built for more effective action.
Health Position Paper : Delivering Health Results
The Health Position Paper : Delivering Health Results (published August, 2013, when the strategy was about to end) was a Department for International Development policy publication on how it was improving health in the world's poorest countries.
It explained DFID’s public health approach, which combined investments that achieve targeted results with investments that strengthened broader health systems. This approach was rooted in the UK government’s commitment to improve the health of the world’s poorest people. It put people at the centre of what the UK does and engaged communities in the promotion and protection of their own health. It also recognised the importance of the broader determinants of health, such as improved access to water and sanitation and increased girls’ education.
Working with other partners to support countries’ national plans and priorities, the UK approach was intended to deliver gains that countries can sustain and build on.
The UK as a Global Centre for Health and Health Science
The UK as a Global Centre for Health Science is a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health published in February, 2020. It proposed that the UK was already a leader in health and related sciences and that it should give this role even greater priority to become a truly global centre for health and health science.
It recommended that, in order to do this, existing international partnerships, collaborations and networks should be strengthened and further developed at both national and local level.
Delivery Plan of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
Development aid has been provided by the UK Government for many years both in the form of grants and the provision of technical support. This was largely managed through the Department for International Development, but the department was absorbed into the Foreign Office in 2020 to become part of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Its current strategy is set out in its Outcomes Delivery Plan.
NHS Involvement in International Development
Follow this link to find guidance provided on NHS Involvement in International Development
