Billions Lack Essential Health Services, Face Financial Hardship
A joint report by the WHO and World Bank reveals that over half the global population lacks essential health services, with two billion people experiencing severe financial hardship when paying for healthcare.
More than half of the world's population is currently not covered by essential health services, and two billion people face severe financial hardship when paying for them, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. Released ahead of the UN General Assembly's High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the 2023 UHC Global Monitoring Report highlights an alarming stagnation in progress towards global health goals.
"The COVID-19 pandemic was a reminder that healthy societies and economies depend on healthy people," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He emphasized that the lack of access to affordable, quality essential health services not only endangers individual health but also risks the stability of communities and economies. Dr. Ghebreyesus called for stronger political will, increased health investments, and a decisive shift towards transforming health systems based on primary healthcare.
The report found that over the past two decades, less than a third of countries have improved health service coverage while simultaneously reducing out-of-pocket health spending. Of the 138 countries with available data, 96 are off-track in either service coverage, financial protection, or both. While progress in essential service coverage was made early in the century, it has slowed significantly since 2015, with no improvement observed between 2019 and 2021. Gains in services for infectious diseases have not been matched by improvements in coverage for noncommunicable diseases or reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health.
Catastrophic out-of-pocket health spending, defined as exceeding 10% of a household's budget, continues to rise, affecting over one billion people. For low-income families, even small expenditures can be devastating, pushing approximately 1.3 billion people into poverty. Achieving universal health coverage by 2030 is critical for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals and upholding the human right to health. This requires increased public sector investment and accelerated action by governments and development partners, focusing on primary healthcare and equitable access to services and financial protection.