[French sanitary cooperation in developing countries]

In the face of a worsening public health situation throughout the world, French know-how in the field of sanitary cooperation warrants a far more active commitment from our country. Instead there have been only a few initiatives and we are witnessing a programmed decline of our presence. The statement issued by the Economic and Social Council in 2006--the highlights of which will be presented at this meeting--strongly advocates a voluntary program to revive sanitary cooperation by encouraging civic-spirited young people to express international solidarity through public service in impoverished areas. By compensating the shortage of human resources in developing countries, this program would allow immediate implementation of measures to promote action, training and research not as a replacement operation but rather as a genuine partnership. Deployment of our public aid for development in the field of health-care must not have a detrimental effect on the bilateral dimension of the relationship that indeed requires urgent strengthening. In addition tighter coordination of all parties involved in cooperation activities is needed to ensure greater efficiency and consistency. New funding sources (starting with the airline ticket tax) and greater mobilization of the European Union is necessary to ensure that developing countries have more financial resources to wage the "health-care battle". Reducing the "health-care gap" that cripples development and destabilizes societies must be the first priority of French Cooperation.