Your Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Disease respects no borders.

Disease can destabilise entire economies and political systems.

Disease causes pain and distress in families among both rich and poor.

The deaths of millions of people every year can be prevented by comprehensive global, regional and national efforts to turn the tide on disease and poverty.

Let me quote from the report from the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health:

“Disease control is one of the most important factors in a country’s transition from a pattern of high mortality and low economic growth, to a pattern of low mortality and high economic growth.”

I would like to congratulate you on the launching of the new Northern Dimension Partnership on Public Health and Social Wellbeing.

This is a partnership that will make a difference to the lives of many of our citizens. It is a partnership that will encourage closer co-operation and better co-ordination on health and social issues in the region. And it is a partnership that will be one of the key elements of the second Action Plan for the Northern Dimension of the European Union during the period 2004-2006.

The EU Action Plan, which was adopted four weeks ago, provides a broad framework for joint efforts. The basic aim of the EU’s Northern Dimension is to extend the zone of stability and welfare to the central and eastern part of our continent. This is also a basic aim of Norwegian foreign policy.

Norway has appreciated participating in the preparation of the Action Plan, and I am pleased to note that the plan reflects many of our suggestions and ideas.

If we go back only ten years, all the former Soviet states and a number of Central and Eastern European states were in the midst of a difficult and complex transition. Many social institutions had disappeared, and new ones were having to be established. The economy was in decline and many people were left without an income. This is still reflected in the gap between the living standards of citizens of these countries and their close neighbours in the West.

We all stood to gain from collaboration. And before long, the Arctic Council, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, the Council of the Baltic Sea States and other co-operation organisations were starting to tackle issues as varied as water pollution, nuclear waste, trade and investment, organised crime, health and education.

Now, ten years later, we are beginning to see the results of many of these initiatives.

The economies of the region is recovering. There may be several reasons for this, but I am convinced that international co-operation - not least in preparation for membership in the European Union - has played a key role in developing know-how and improving infrastructure in the region. The tide has definitely been turned.

Life expectancy is slowly increasing, and the incidence of tuberculosis is flattening out or falling in the region. And the rate of new HIV infection is declining in all the countries of the region. But the incidence of communicable disease is still far too high, and it will take a sustained effort to reduce the rate of infection.

Thus, there is a lot to do, and the new partnership will address some of the serious and complex problems that are still affecting citizens throughout the region.

Communicable diseases are not the main reason for low life expectancy. The most important causes of premature death are cardiovascular disease, violence and cancer. These are frequently linked to an unhealthy diet and the abuse of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. And behind these again we find the underlying causes of poverty and misery.

This is one of the reasons why the new initiative combines public health and social wellbeing. We recognise the long-established fact that people’s health is important for economic development and prosperity and that people’s health depends on their living conditions.

To me, it is both unacceptable and unnecessary that there are such large differences between living conditions and opportunities for people who are close neighbours.

That is why many of us are searching for ways of improving the situation. Our basic motivation stems from the responsibility we share as neighbours. The wellbeing of our neighbours reflects upon our regional community as a whole. We want everyone to prosper and thrive. This motivation is firmly rooted in our Christian values and sense of responsibility for our fellow human beings.

It is also, of course, in our mutual interest to reduce the risk of infectious disease transmission. This will help to protect all our citizens when they travel, whether as tourists or on work-related assignments.

I believe the new Partnership will provide a meeting place for all the major initiatives relating to public health and social wellbeing in this region. It will be able to play a valuable co-ordinating role, and help to secure funding for these important fields of co-operation.

I would like to make three points about how the Partnership is intended to function.

Firstly, it is envisaged as a partnership, not as a new organisation. With a bare minimum of structural support, it will be based on the partners themselves and their initiatives, programmes and strengths. The success of the Partnership will depend on the contribution of each and every member.

Secondly, the partnership will need financial support. We have listed several forms of financing in the Declaration we have agreed on today. Norway is prepared to allocate nearly 3 million euros in support of ongoing activities and to strengthen the Partnership in 2004.

In addition, the acceding states to the EU will be in a position to identify health-related projects that can be financed by Norway and our EEA partners. Every year more than 200 million euros will be channelled through two new financial mechanisms under the EEA Agreement. This is a considerable sum. We are looking forward to a close political dialogue with the countries concerned in order to identify priorities and concrete projects that will make a difference to people.

Thirdly, funding alone will not ensure the success of the Partnership. The participation of first-line experts in the many programmes will be equally important. We must see to it that many of the best people in fields such as drug abuse, health education and communicable disease control become involved. And as politicians we must lend our political support to the Partnership, and encourage the professional community to take up the challenge.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In closing, I would like to express my thanks to the former Prime Minister of Finland, Paavo Lipponen, who is the person we associate most closely with the development of this Partnership and with the establishment of the Northern Dimension itself. I know that his work has the full support of his successor, Mr Matti Vanhanen. I am very much looking forward to listening to his statement here today.

I am also very pleased that Sweden is willing to take on the chair of the Partnership for the coming year. The necessary structures, procedures and routines must now be developed, and this is no small task. However, we pledge our full support, and we wish you every success in this crucial phase of the Partnership.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you who have taken part in today’s conference and helped to establish the Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Wellbeing.