On June 12 the World Health Organization and the World Bank Group announced the first monitoring report for tracking global healthcare coverage. This is the first report in what is to become an annual report with the goal of helping to eliminate health concerns that affect poverty rates. As the UN moves towards the new Sustainable Development Goals, these reports will help assess the success or any failures in reaching the new goals set for 2030. The report looks at the coverage of healthcare services as well as the effects of the costs on people.

The report found that 400 million people did not have access to one or more of the essential healthcare services. In short, the most disadvantaged are the ones missing out the most. WHO lists 100 items as core health indicators. Some of these include life expectancy, vaccine-preventable deaths, malnutrition, alcohol abuse, family planning, mental health and clean water. In addition, part of the list is how well services are provided and how accessible they are.

The other aspect of monitoring is the cost of global healthcare. In low and middle-income countries, paying for services pushes 17 percent of people into or further into poverty. If people are pushed into poverty because of health issues, it will be difficult to solve the issue of world poverty. By addressing the issue of financing and efficiency of health services, there is hope to reverse the trend and begin to raise people out of poverty and still provide accessible, affordable health services.

Despite what appears to be a gloomy outlook on world health coverage, there are positives. Research shows that more people have access to better healthcare than ever before. This is a trend that the UN, WHO, World Bank Group and many others are proud of and hope to continue with renewed efforts to deliver affordable healthcare to all people.

– Katherine Hewitt

Sources: Rockefeller Foundation, World Health Organization 1, World Health Organization 2
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