Global health and the G8--is power just too sweet to share?

摘要

On July 8, at the Hokkaido Toyako Summit in Japan, G8 leaders—from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK, and the USA—welcomed the Toyako Framework for Action on Global Health1 in their leaders' communique.2 The document was prepared by the G8 Health Experts Group—which was convened by the Japanese Government and which met three times in the months leading up to the 2008 G8 Summit—and has now been endorsed by G8 leaders. The Framework outlines the current situation, the principles for action, and actions to be taken on global health. Although based on the language of diplomacy, thanks to the intense work done by the Japanese Government, the Framework, refreshingly, says something new and different to the usual platitudes that we have come to expect from such international summits.