Foreign Policy Blogs

1 Billion Left Without Healthcare Globally

1 Billion Left Without Healthcare GloballyAccording to the World Health Organization’s (WHO), World Health Report, released on November 22, 2010 there are some 1 billion people globally who are unable to pay for health care, while another 100 million placed in situations of poverty as a direct result of health care expenditures.  The report stated that both wealthy and impoverished nations alike could do more to make services available to those unable to afford them. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan stated in the report;

“There is no magic bullet to achieving universal access. Nevertheless, a wide range of experiences from around the world suggests that countries can move forward faster.”

According to the report countries could improve global efficiency via 10 areas specific areas;
including reducing unnecessary spending on drugs, targeting medicines properly, and adopting a generics drug policy.  The report stated a number of countries pay substantially higher costs for the same medicines than others, often up to 67 times the international average.

Such changes would have a substantial affect on the not only the health and nutrition of children across the globe, but their general access to rights as children who are not only healthier, but whose families have access to no to low cost medical treatments and medicines are more likely to thus afford that their children attend school. Obtaining an education is a key to breaking the cycle of poverty.

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