title: The global health financing revolution: why maternal health is missing the boat.
abstract: The first decade of the new millennium saw an upsurge in global financing for health. When the world took stock of progress on the Millennium Development Goals in mid-2010 the one addressing maternal health showed the least progress. Did maternal health miss the boat? In mid-2010 the Secretary-General of the United Nations launched a "Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health", also known as the "Every Woman Every Child" initiative. Has the tide now turned in favour of maternal health? The authors try to answer this question by first examining whether maternal health really missed out with respect to increased global funding and why this may have occurred. They then assess whether the new initiative will make a difference by comparing several elements of the approach taken by HIV/AIDS activist to that of maternal health activists. They suggest that real progress requires international financing, thus pledges must become robust and reliable commitments. They conclude that the absence of an organisational structure in the current initiative means the global maternal health financing revolution will probably not happen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ooms
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hammonds
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: De Brouwere
keywords: Maternal health; global health; international assistance; international organisations; international regimes
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