Health Minister Tedros

Buried deep in a two-part series on the Global Health Initiative (GHI) published earlier this week by GlobalPost, Ethiopian Health Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus underscored a key message about the future of donor and developing country relations.

He said that donors and recipient countries must work more closely to support the country's health priorities, and that it's better to get it right than to move fast and do harm.

In Ethiopia, a GHI and MLI country, Tedros believes that the amount of funds available does not determine the magnitude of results.  In the GlboalPost story, written by John Donnelly, Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that money is not everything when it comes to strengthening health systems.

“I worry less about the additional money than the quality of the programs,” Tedros said. “You could give me $300 million without the right approach, but I would prefer if you give me $100 million with the right approach because I can use it in a way that can add value. The value of $100 million used the right way could be more than $300 million used improperly.”

And the ‘right approach’ that Minister Tedros speaks of comes from the countries themselves, not the funders. As Donnelly writes, “the GHI approach already is helping support one of [Tedros’] main goals: allowing the countries to assume more leadership over its health programs. That is a significant shift from years of U.S. foreign assistance policy in which it largely controlled funding for programs deemed best for the country. Now, GHI has promoted intensive talks with country leaders on how to tailor U.S. assistance to country priorities.”

There are skeptics who believe these talks, negotiations, and planning sessions with the countries themselves are not productive.  Although it has been two years since GHI was initiated, many of the eight countries identified as GHI countries do not know exactly what GHI is doing and how it could potentially impact their country resources and programs.

Working with countries to help them define their priorities has been a core principle of MLI’s approach.  And creating an integrated plan that works for each country takes time. As Minister Tedros points out, “If you rush in, you often make mistakes.”

Photo Credit Dominic Chavez