Annual Report 2014 of the MMI Network – Medicus Mundi International

Network Health For All

Dear Network Members,

Travelling back to Switzerland from a conference or consultancy appointment in Southern Africa is normally a rather relaxed experience, with a good dinner and a comfortable seat in one of these big planes. In February, when I was repatriated from Mozambique in an ambulance jet after having suffered a stroke during a business meeting in Maputo, I was lying on a stretcher with all kinds of medical devices around me. At that moment, nothing was as usual, but all was excitement.

All was excitement – and at the same time relief: Yes, I survived it. I had not become another figure in a dire statistic of “preventable deaths”. I was rescued on the spot by competent colleagues who reacted immediately. I received prompt and appropriate care in a clinic in Maputo. And I was already on the way back home, expecting further professional treatment and rehabilitation.

Today these feelings are still very present. Currently undergoing rehabilitation in a specialized clinic in Basel, I am fully aware of my luck and privilege – in a sense of having access to treatment and care in a competent and supportive environment, and being free of financial worries.

Unexpectedly, “access to health and health care” has become a personal experience, one that will certainly shape my future engagement in this field.

A luta continua. The struggle goes on. This is the title of an impressive documentary produced by Medicus Mundi Catalunya and shown at the MMI General Assembly in Geneva in May. The movie refers to the achievements, challenges and difficulties in order to build a strong national health system in …Mozambique and to improve the precarious health situation of the population in this country. What a coincidence.

“Health for All”, access to health and health care as a fundamental human right: this is what the Medicus Mundi International Network stands for and aims at. I am confident that the Network Strategy 2016-20 with its double focus on international health cooperation and global health policy is a good expression of this ambition. I am also confident that the objectives and particular contributions of the Network to the work of its members, which are outlined in the new strategy, show us clear directions on this way.

A luta continua. And I’ll be with you.

Nick Lorenz, President

The Report

Since the adoption of the new statutes, MMI calls itself “Medicus Mundi International. Network Health for All”: our ambition has become part of our name!

The Annual report on “progress and perspectives” refers to the MMI Network strategy 2011-15 and the three major programs developed by the Network within this framework: Research and evidence processes; Human Resources for Health; Global Health Governance. The last year was also characterized by a successful process of institutional consolidation and development of the MMI Network, resulting in the adoption of a renewed Network Policy and revisited statutes by the Assembly in May 2014 and the start of a strategy expected to lead to the adoption of a Network Strategy 2016-20 by the Assembly in May 2015.

A luta continua! Message from the President
Network Health for All: Progress and perspectives
2014: Financial facts and figures