Say “ Me Too” for healthcare for all

A doctor when you need one. Medicines you can afford. Not much to ask you might think, but think again. Millions of people in poor countries are going without these basic things, every single day. They get low-quality health care, or are forced to go without it altogether. Fees are too high, hospitals and clinics are too few, and lack of medical staff means people struggle to get treated.

The price they pay is serious: preventable illness, and early death, on a scale impossible to imagine.

+Every minute, a woman with no medical care dies in pregnancy or childbirth
+Every hour, 300 people die of an AIDS-related illness
+Every day 37,000 people die from treatable causes.

Oxfam believes this is totally unacceptable, not least because much of it absolutely preventable. That’s why we have joined forces with other organizations, to launch the Me Too campaign in March.

Me Too aims to make health care for everyone a reality. This year is a particularly good time to call on the government to show it’s leadership on global poverty because Japan is at the centre stage of world politics in 2008. It hosts not only the G8 summit (the annual meeting of the eight richest nations in the world) in July, but also the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in May. These two events happen together only once every 40 years. Me Too is a response to this unique opportunity. We are calling on the government to lead the G8 to end the unacceptable global health crisis by giving more and better aid for health.

A key part of Me Too is to get members of the public to support the campaign. The G8 summit begins on July 7th (Tanabata day), so the campaign is inviting you and people all across Japan to make a wish for health care for all. You can make this wish by entering your name on the Me Too website. The aim is to collect as many names as possible between March and the beginning of July. We will present them to the Government of Japan and ask them to ensure that the G8 gives more and better aid so everyone around the world has the healthcare they need.

Oxfam knows that getting members of the public to support a campaign is crucial for influencing governments to make decisions to help overcome poverty. We often meet government officials to put our arguments forward, but if we can show tens of thousands of Japanese citizens are supporting us, then we there will be a much more powerful reason for them to agree to what we ask.

It only takes a few seconds to give your name in support of the campaign, but the effect of joining with tens of thousands of other people will be very forceful. So make a difference today and CLICK HERE and say "Me Too" for the call to give everyone in the world the basic health care they need.