France’s global health strategy 2023-2027: achieving SDG3 through multilateral action
Published on 12/10/2023.
On October 12, 2023, the French government launched its new global health strategy at a conference held at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon. This strategy defines France’s priorities for the 2023-2027 period to meet current global health challenges and contribute to the achievement of SDG3 worldwide by 2030.
Vaccination, maternal and neonatal health, access to healthcare…: despite progress in global health over the past 20 years, many challenges remain. In 2022, 20.5 million children had still not received routine vaccinations, 2.1 million more than in 2019. Every two minutes, a mother dies from complications during pregnancy or childbirth.
To meet these numerous challenges, France has identified strategic priorities and key actions to be implemented, with the ultimate aim of creating a new global health architecture. Summary.
Strategic priorities
Health is a global objective, affecting every country on the planet, and is closely intertwined with other issues such as gender, economic inequality, human rights and climate change. The guiding principles of the French strategy integrate these intersections: they aim to promote access to health for all, through a “One Health” approach, which recognizes the interdependence of human, animal and environmental health. They include respect for human rights and gender equality as sine qua non conditions for the implementation of effective health systems. Finally, the strategy is also founded on principles based on results and scientific methods, on the co-construction, ownership and sustainability of interventions, and on coherence and complementarity with other international strategies.
These guiding principles underpin the three strategic priorities and nine specific objectives identified for the 2023-2027 period:
- Promote equitable, sustainable, resilient, adaptive and people-centered healthcare systems to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). This priority focuses specifically on the impacts of climate change on health, the promotion of people-centered health services and the strengthening of human resources for health.
- Promote the health and well-being of populations and prevent and combat disease at all stages of life by providing support for programs to prevent and promote health and well-being, develop integrated healthcare solutions and combat infectious diseases.
- Better anticipate, prevent, prepare for and respond to public health emergencies and climate change, with a “One Health” approach, strengthening emergency preparedness mechanisms and their financing, and ensuring a coordinated and effective response.
In addition to these three priorities, two cross-cutting themes, broken down into seven specific objectives, have been identified to implement this new strategy:
- Contribute to the creation of a new global health architecture through strengthening the functioning of multilateralism in health, promoting the regionalization of global health and contributing to the emergence of a shared vision of global health financing.
- Make public and private research and expertise levers for action and influence in support of the global health strategy through the coordination of French, francophone and European stakeholders in global health, training and capacity-building, support for the implementation of public policies, and strengthening dialogue between diplomats, scientists and the private sector.
Key actions
France’s actions under this new strategy can be summed up in 3 main areas:
- Economic support for european and international initiatives aimed at reinforcing progress in terms of global health (WHO Academy, Global Fund, Unitaid, Gavi, GPEI, PREZODE, Pandemic Fund, IEE, MPCUE), United nations agencies (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UN Women), public development banks through the “Finance en commun” network and international networks coordinating funding stakeholders (P4H, UHC 2030).
- France’s participation in European (ECDC, EMA) and international bodies (WHO, G7, G20, Quadripartite Alliance, UN, multilateral funds, Global health and foreign policy initiative) and support for the negotiation of progressive agreements, notably concerning the future international treaty on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, due to be adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2024, and in work to revise the International Health Regulations (IHR).
- The implementation and continuation of bilateral actions to sustainably strengthen partner countries’ healthcare systems: hospital cooperation, technical assistance, support for civil society and community projects. This support will be carried out in particular through the mobilization of a range of French stakeholders such as the AFD Group, academic institutions, foundations, the private sector and NGOs.
A monitoring committee, comprising players from government, public agencies, civil society organizations and the higher education and research sectors, will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the strategy.
