Report signifies 'wakeup call' about lack of health coverage globally

A recent WHO and World Bank Group report suggests 400 million people do not have access to essential health services.

“This report is a wakeup call: It shows that we’re a long way from achieving universal health coverage. We must expand access to health and protect the poorest from health expenses that are causing them severe financial hardship,” Tim Evans, DPhil, MD, senior director of health, nutrition and population at the World Bank Group, said in a press release.

The report, Tracking Universal Health Coverage, found that up to 400 million people were missing access to major health services like family planning, antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, child immunization, antiretroviral therapy, tuberculosis treatment and access to clean water and sanitation, etc. In addition, 6% of the population across 37 low- and middle-income countries were either impoverished or driven further into poverty because of health care costs.

WHO and the World Bank Group recommend that countries pursuing universal health coverage set a goal for at least 80% coverage of its citizens, and also protect them against crippling health care payments.

“With countries around the world taking steps to provide universal health coverage, the ability to identify gaps and effectively measure progress will add critical momentum to this global movement,” Michael Myers, managing director at The Rockefeller Foundation, said in the release. “This an important tool for countries to achieve universal health coverage and build more resilient health systems.”

The Rockefeller Foundation and the Japanese Ministry of Health supported the report. It is the first in a series of annual reports that WHO and the World Bank Group will produce on the issue.

Reference:
WHO. Tracking universal health coverage: First global monitoring report. 2015. Available at: http://www.who.int/healthinfo/universal_health_coverage/report/2015/en/. Accessed June 12, 2015.