As the world observes Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) is sounding the alarm on the critical need for financial protection in healthcare. The stark reality is that over the last 20 years, financial protection has deteriorated, leaving 2 billion people facing financial hardship and 1.3 billion people pushed into poverty due to health spending.
This is not just a statistic; it’s a harsh reality that affects families and communities worldwide. Mothers are forced to miss out on life-saving interventions, and people are not diagnosed and treated for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) on time, leading to severe and life-threatening illnesses.
The WHO emphasizes that healthier populations build resilient, productive, peaceful, and prosperous communities. Achieving universal health coverage is essential to realizing the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Despite numerous high-level political commitments to achieve UHC by 2030, over half of the world’s population still lacks access to essential health services .
This UHC Day, the WHO is calling for urgent action to put financial protection measures in place. Governments must invest in protecting people, particularly the most vulnerable, from impoverishing health spending. It’s time for governments to take concrete steps towards achieving universal health coverage and ensuring that everyone has access to quality healthcare without facing financial hardship.
WHO/Ruth Abla ADJORLOLO
