In terms of socioeconomic development, the relationship between good health and poverty alleviation is clear. Chronic disease and ill-health undermine productivity, prevent children from attending school and hamper parents' ability to care for and support their families, critical facts that are reflected in the MDGs where most of the targets are in some way related to good health.

While remarkable progress has been over the past decade towards achieving the health-related MDGs in absolute terms, the trends are not so encouraging in sub-Saharan Africa and, to a lesser extent, South Asia.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO):

• the African Region is home to 11% of the world’s population, but accounts for estimated 60% of people globally with HIV/AIDS
• in sub-Saharan Africa one child out of seven dies before reaching the age of five
• in 2008, there were an estimated 250 million cases of malaria, resulting in the death of almost one million people, 90% of them in Africa
• 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries
• every day, approximately 1,000 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth

OFID’s contribution

OFID carries out a wide range of activities aimed at improving health indicators, ranging from the construction and equipping of healthcare facilities, to mass immunization and other preventative programs, to contributing to HIV/AIDS eradication efforts by teaming up with global partners such as the ILO, the IFRC,UNESCO, UNHCR, UNODC and WHO.