La révolution du financement mondial de la santé: pourquoi la santé maternelle a-t-elle raté le train?

The first decade in the new millennium has seen a significant increase in world health funding. When the summary of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was publicly unveiled in mid-2010, MDG 5 (Maternal Health) revealed the least progress. Did maternal health miss the boat? The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) took the opportunity to launch a Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, also known as the Every Woman Every Child initiative. Has the time of maternal health finally come? Is it possible to turn the tables? It is these questions that the authors of this article will attempt to answer. They will first assess whether maternal health has missed out on the opportunities offered by the increase in world health funding. If this is the case, why? They will then evaluate whether the new initiative will bring about significant changes. In order to do so, they will compare several elements of the approaches used by HIV/AIDS activists with those used by maternal health activists. They suggest that true progress needs international funding. In other words, promises must be turned into firm and reliable commitments. They conclude that the absence of an organisational structure within the current initiative means that a revolution in world maternal health funding is not likely to happen.