Strasbourg, 10/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - In a resolution adopted as part of World Health Day, the European Parliament has criticised the “contradiction between the official commitment by the Commission to improve health services in developing countries and attain the Millennium Objectives, on the one hand, and the level of spending in the health sector, on the other. Parliament considers that the amount of funding from the European Development Fund spent on health is developing too slowly: 4% in 2002, 5.2% in 2003 and hardly any more in the future, given that the Commission is only planning on 6% for human and social development (health, social, education, etc.). It is calling on the Commission to abide by its long standing demand for 35% of these funds being used for basic health care and elementary education. Parliament points out that one of the major problems of the poor countries is the lack of doctors and health care professionals, caused by recruitment by wealthy countries. Parliament is therefore calling on the Union to exert some pressure so that a world code of conduct on ethical recruitment is set up. However, it underlines that the best way to fight against the “brain drain” in the health sector is to provide incentives and career prospects so that health workers remain in their countries of origin. It is calling on the EU and governments in developing countries to invest in the training of health professionals and calls on these countries to restore their basic health care and public health services. In this connection it calls on the EU to support this process by strengthening human resources and institutional infrastructure and capacity, notably through the improvement of working conditions for medical personnel, the provision of medical equipment and technology transfer. Parliament is also highlighting the need to develop an efficient vaccine against malaria.