Agreement has been reached between the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) to “reinforce joint efforts to reduce poverty and improve health conditions in the developing countries”. The “strategic partnership”, signed in early July, is based on three main planks: the improvement of the health of women/mothers; the acceleration of the campaign against Aids, malaria and other transmittable diseases; and the boosting of information systems concerning health services and their quality. The closest cooperation between the two institutions ought especially to take place at the level of programmes for individual countries rather than in the adoption of generalized actions, in view of the greater efficacy demonstrated by policies for the reduction of poverty and the improvement of living conditions if and when locally applied in conformity with the peculiarities of each territory.
