No money no treatment?

“No money no treatment?” was the slogan of a stunt organised by Action for Global Health’s German partners Welthungerhilfe, Terre des Hommes and the German Foundation for World Population (DSW) in co-operation with Oxfam Germany and Save the Children Germany. The groups called for the removal of user fees for medical treatment in developing countries.

Activists met outside the international ministerial conference “Health Systems Financing – Key to Universal Coverage”, which took place in Berlin ( 22-23 November) and addressed the main points of the World Health Report 2010: fair and sustainable health systems financing and social health protection as a means to achieving universal coverage.

Activists put a fenced-off doctor’s surgery just in front of the conference venue to show that sick people cannot have access to healthcare if they do not have the money to pay for it. More than one billion people still do not have access to health services and this has a huge impact for marginalised people such as children, pregnant women and old people. The fence represented the barrier that people face when it comes to accessing healthcare in developing countries.

Please find more information (in German) on www.actionforglobalhealth.de