Millennium Development Goals Commission Launch Meeting Concludes New Approaches Are Needed

Published: Oct. 21, 2010, 11:36 a.m.

The Lancet, The London International Development Centre and The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Meet To Discuss Goals Beyond 2015.\n\nThe United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) \u2014 the internationally agreed targets for reducing hunger around the world and promoting health and education \u2014 are in need of revision beyond their target date of 2015, it emerged from a symposium held at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.\n\nThe meeting was held jointly by the London International Development Centre (LIDC) and the medical journal: The Lancet to launch a commission of experts to formulate future development policy.\n\nJeff Waage, Director of the LIDC, Andrew Dorward, Professor of Development Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and Ricardo Uauy, Professor of Public Health Nutrition at the University of Chile in Santiago and The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, discuss their opinions about the policy directions which need to be followed.\n\nCatherine Pitt, Research Fellow in Health Economics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, reports a massive shift in the global aid architecture of maternal and child health. John Cleland Professor of Medical Demographics discusses research findings of a doubling of female education since 1970 and a consequent halving of child mortality.