WHO Says Half the World’s Population Does Not Have Access to Health Care

People often wonder why do we have to spend so much money when we get sick, some says it’s because we need money to be able to access drugs and medical procedures that are often given by doctors, and these doctors are paid hundreds and thousands of dollars, making them the highest paid professionals in the world. That is indeed understandable since they have spent most their lives studying and they also have the most difficult jobs, and that is treating people and helping them survive an illness.

They said that no one exactly wants to get ill, some people just get their illness from their genes, some just got their illness from other people, but then again, there are also some who actually have a choice. If only people choose to eat the right kinds of food, if only people choose to exercise every day, if only people choose to live healthily, then their bodies wouldn’t give up on them. Unfortunately, not everyone has a choice, there are actually millions of people living in this world who don’t have access to healthcare.

800 MILLION SUFFERS BECAUSE OF HEALTH PROBLEMS

It may seem like it is not accurate and the reports seem to be exaggerated, but they are actually facts straight from the World Health Organization and the World Bank. The report was released on the 13th of December wherein they said that half the world, unfortunately, don’t have access to healthcare services and 100 million of them are forced to be in poverty because they spend most their money on health expenses.

The report also says that this actually happens every single year and which is why more and more families are pushed into poverty since they must spend a ton of money to pay for their own healthcare. 800 million people are said to have suffered and are continuing to suffer because of this, in fact, some of them are forced to spend less than $2 a day just to be able to survive especially in third-world countries. This all according to the findings of the Tracking Universal Health Coverage: 2017 Global Monitoring Report which was actually published in Lancet Global Health.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that it is definitely not acceptable that millions of people in this world don’t have access to essential health services since it is just absolutely unnecessary even if there is such thing as the universal health coverage. Dr. Ghebreyesus is actually the current Director-General of the World Health Organization.

He also said that not many people know about the UHC, but it is actually where everyone could have all the health services that they actually need especially those who are unprivileged. They wouldn’t need to suffer from financial crisis because of healthcare because the universal health coverage is there for the people who need them.

“#HealthForAll is a matter of political will. Governments with the determination, courage and foresight to invest in strengthening their health systems towards Universal Health Coverage will reap the benefits long into the future.” —@DrTedros https://t.co/VFFTc4GSrx pic.twitter.com/tasdV94wpu

— WHO (@WHO) December 14, 2017

WORLD BANK BLAMES BROKEN SYSTEM

It is very crucial to take things up a notch when it comes to the efforts going to the universal health coverage, because clearly it wasn’t enough because of the 800 million people worldwide who are suffering from it, is all according to the current president of the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

He also mentioned how very important it is to build a much larger and stronger foundation when it comes to not just the healthcare system but also to the people to be able to improve economic growth. There are still countries out there who need more help when it comes to the universal health coverage and the system must be fixed right away in order to continue the world’s progress.

21st CENTURY UNEVEN PROGRESS

When there is bad news, there is, of course, good news. The World Health Organization also mentioned on their report that this 21st century is when the most number of people from different nation was able to access health free and affordable services when it comes to family planning, immunization and even on the antiretroviral treatment for diseases like HIV.

However, despite that kind of progress, there are still a lot of regions all over the world who don’t have any financial protection in healthcare, like in Eastern Asia, Latin America, and even in some places in Europe. The inequalities when it comes to healthcare must be taken action right away or things will get worse in the coming years.