PHA-Exch> Unequal health-care systems are hurting poor worldwide, UN report finds

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: HREA noreply at hrea.org

 14 October 2008 – People in different countries and even within the same
State or city face strikingly different health outcomes because of vast
inequalities in both access to health care and the amount they have to pay
for that care, according to a new United Nations report, which calls for an
overhaul of the way such assistance is provided worldwide.

The annual World Health Report, launched today by the World Health
Organization (WHO), finds that the inequalities are now much greater than
they were 30 years ago and that too often health care is treated as a
commodity on which a profit can be made.

It recommends a return to primary health care, the more holistic approach
developed in the 1970s where general practitioners, family doctors or nurses
perform tasks that these days are frequently carried out by specialists.

In far too many cases, people who are well-off and generally healthier have
the best access to the best care, while the poor are left to fend for
themselves

"Health care is often delivered according to a model that concentrates on
diseases, high technology, and specialist care, with health viewed as a
product of biomedical interventions and the power of prevention largely
ignored."

Annual government expenditure on health varies greatly across the globe,
from as little as $20 per person to over $6000 in some countries, while
differences in life expectancy between the richest and poorest nations now
exceeds 40 years.

For 5.6 billion people in low and middle-income countries, more than half of
all health care expenditure is through out-of-pocket payments and, at a time
of global financial crisis, such personal expenditure pushes more than 100
million people below the poverty line each year, the UN agency suggested.

"Viewed against current trends, primary health care looks more and more like
a smart way to get health development back on track," said Dr. Chan. "We
are, in effect, encouraging countries to go back to the basics. Thirty years
of well-monitored experience tell us what works and where we need to head,
in rich and poor countries alike."

The launch of the WHO report in Kazakhstan commemorates the 30th anniversary
of the Alma-Ata International Conference on Primary Health Care, which
placed health equity on the international political agenda.

UN News Centre






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Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an international
non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the
training of activists and professionals; the development of educational
materials and programming; and community-building through on-line
technologies.

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