Health transcends countries’ borders. Developments in one country can affect the health and livelihood of people all around the world. ‘No one is safe unless everyone is safe’, is a phrase we have heard a lot in the last years. But Dutch policies related to global health often lack safeguarding that healthcare is accessible for everybody, including poor or vulnerable people. In 2022, the Dutch government developed a Dutch Global Health Strategy. A good start. Although in its execution, there should be attention for the gaps in access to medicines, and for the risks of public-private partnerships for health.
The Netherlands should develop and implement a comprehensive and multi-sectoral approach to effectively deal with current global health challenges and potential future ones. This includes 1) committing to the needed structural investments in global health – in terms of quality and quantity -, 2) adopting a stronger focus on systems for health, acknowledging they are a prerequisite for sexual and reproductive health and rights, and 3) implementing a Health in All Policies approach to ensure policy coherence. Wemos is a founding member of the Dutch Global Health Alliance with whom we advocate for Dutch policies that contribute to stronger health systems worldwide.
