Source The United Nations
Media www.rajawalisiber.com – Press briefing by; Dr. Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage, Life Course, World Health Organization (WHO); Dr Samira Asma, Assistant Director-General, Data, Analytics and Delivery, WHO; Dr Juan Pablo Uribe, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank.
The Assistant Director-General for Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact, at the World Health Organization (WHO), Samira Asma, today (18 Sep) said progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) “has slowed down to a near halt,” and “more than half of the world’s population, were not fully covered by essential health services in 2021.”
Speaking to reporters in New York at the press launch of the 2013 Universal Health Coverage Global Monitoring Report, Asma noted that from 2000 to 2015, there had been “significant progress towards UHC.”
“A staggering 4.5 billion people,” she said remain without coverage.
Asma said, “as we stand at the midpoint on our way towards these global goals, this report is a stark reminder that billions of people remain deprived of life saving essential health services.”
She stressed that “the gains the world has made in improving care for infectious diseases and maternal and child health show that investments do pay off in economic returns, and most importantly, in lives saved.”
The World Bank’s Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population Juan Pablo Uribe said, “we need to prioritize health and the investment in health systems” and pointed out that the World Bank, which produced the Report in partnership with WHO remains ready to support countries and to partner with others “to collectively address this challenge and speeding up progress to universal health coverage in our countries and regions.”
WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage and Life Course, Bruce Aylward, said, “the commitment to health for all is becoming a commitment to health for some – and more health for some – and that is just not the right choice.”
Aylward said, “we’re fully committed to do our part, monitoring what’s happening, finding the best evidence about what works, helping you look at the smartest investments, advocating, and then providing the technical assistance on the ground.”
According to the Report the world is off track to make significant progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) (Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.8) by 2030 as improvements to health services coverage have stagnated since 2015, and the proportion of the population that faced catastrophic levels of out-of-pocket (OOP) health spending has increased.