African finance ministers and the IMF-World Bank spring meetings

Oxfam’s Nicolas Mombrial said:

“It’s very encouraging that Mozambique and other African countries are prioritizing health care—this will make a real difference to tackling poverty and inequality. But Oxfam is warning that public-private partnerships for health can be a very dangerous route to take—we’ve seen Lesotho’s health budget crippled by just one World Bank Group supported urban hospital.”

“African leaders need to support public, free services that will save more lives.”

“Maria Kiwanuka, Uganda Minister of Finance, said we need to look for value for money spent in the public arena, and not just value of money spent in the private sector.”

“The benefits of investments in health must go to Africa’s poorest citizens, not private investors.”

See a link to Oxfam’s report on Lesotho here: http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressrelease/2014-04-07/model-hospital-privatized-african-health-care-threatens-countrys-budget