SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-Being

The coronavirus is not the only challenge; KfW is supporting its partners in developing countries in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. For example, support is being provided for a project with the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg to help the six countries in the East African Community to develop an early warning system. To this end, laboratory staff will be trained and supplied with tests, for example for the COVID-19 virus. The partner countries are provided with mobile laboratories to enable accurate diagnoses to be made quickly. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), KfW also supports the development and market launch of new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines for use in poorer countries, for example throughproduct development partnerships.

Despite the current enormous challenges posed by the coronavirus, the “old” health challenges remain. About 15,000 young children die every day from malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, diarrhoea or childhood diseases. One sixth of the global population is affected by tropical diseases like dengue fever or sleeping sickness, which have proven difficult to treat to date. The healthcare systems of many countries cannot cope with these diseases on their own.

Research at many pharmaceutical companies focuses on diseases that are particularly prevalent in industrialised countries. Poverty-related diseases are less frequently in focus. On behalf of the German Federal Government, KfW therefore contributed to the Global Health Investment Fund (GHIF) as early as 2012, and subsequently to the Adjuvant Global Health Technology Fund (Adjuvant GHTF) as one of the largest donors. The fund was established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is also supported by pharmaceutical companies. All investors undertake to make their products available to everyone at affordable prices. The GHIF and the Adjuvant GHTF invest, among other things, in products to treat neglected tropical diseases (NTD) and in health innovations for poverty-related diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. The funds have mobilised significant private capital and are very successful in supporting drug development.

With its involvement in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX initiative, KfW is promoting bundled procurement and fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. The goal is to provide two billion vaccine doses, of which one billion will go to poorer countries. KfW is providing EUR 100 million to support the COVAX initiative on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). A further EUR 400 million comes from EU funds. In addition to this, the European Development Fund (EDF) has provided EUR 100 million.

In the East African Community as well, KfW supports vaccine programmes, including the related supply chains, together with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), helping to prevent severe respiratory and diarrhoeal diseases, which are some of the leading causes of death among children in East Africa.

For many years, KfW Development Bank has also been working to fight tuberculosis and polio by financing vaccines, cold chains, supply systems and laboratories for diagnosing and monitoring epidemics. In India and Nigeria, for example, KfW played a part in defeating polio. In 2014, the WHO certified India as being polio-free, and by 2020, the whole of Africa had been declared free from the wild polio virus.

Good news: the battle to prevent the premature death of mothers and young children has resulted in some major improvements in recent years. According to the UN, the under-five mortality rate has fallen from 9.8 million in 2000 to around 5.3 million in 2018. Maternal mortality has been halved over the past 25 years Despite this progress, around 820 women worldwide continue to die every day from preventable complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Alongside this, one in four women in developing countries who do not want to fall pregnant have no access to contraceptives, and nearly half of all pregnancies are unplanned.

This shows that we are still a considerable way off from achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health services and information, meaning that the rights and prospects of women and girls in our partner countries are limited.

As a result, KfW is particularly committed to improving sexual and reproductive health. With various promotional approaches to maternal and child health, family planning, education and youth services, it is also encouraging greater autonomy and gender equality and helping to close the gap between the number of children that women want and the number that they give birth to in reality. To do this, KfW deploys tried-and-tested tools like social marketing and social franchising, which supplement public sector family planning and HIV/Aids prevention programmes by involving and strengthening the local private sector. Both approaches use modern marketing and communication techniques to raise awareness of healthy behaviours among the population. These include using contraception and accessing healthcare services. The services that are provided meet high standards and are easily accessible and affordable. Voucher programmes have proven beneficial, too. These systems give poor women, for example, access to professional healthcare when they give birth, including pre-natal and post-natal care for mother and infant. However, it is also important to expand and equip modern infrastructure for mothers and children that will be usable for the long term – especially against a backdrop of population growth.

KfW’s sexual and reproductive health portfolio currently comprises almost 90 ongoing programmes, with a promotional business volume of EUR 746 million and a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. The new commitments made in 2019 and 2020 will give 8.9 million people access to new or improved reproductive health services.

Materials on Development Finance - Population dynamics – crucial questions for achieving the SDGs  (PDF, 485 KB, non-accessible)

The healthcare systems in developing countries are often poorly equipped. This is also and especially evident in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. In rural areas, people commonly have to travel long distances to reach hospital wards or clinics, which often do not have the necessary medical equipment and qualified staff.

On behalf of the German Federal Government, KfW Development Bank is helping partner countries to modernise existing health facilities and build new ones. In particular, the various possibilities for containing COVID-19 are being intensively expanded.

With respect to new hospitals, KfW focuses on sustainability. Resource consumption for buildings, technology and processes is being optimised under the banner of “Green Hospital”. Sustainable use of the new infrastructure also requires adequate funding, regular maintenance and sufficient and adequately qualified personnel.

KfW also promotes the use of telemedicine, which is becoming increasingly important in rural regions with long distances to facilities. This will significantly improve supply, especially in remote areas and crisis regions.