HALF-BILLION PEOPLE FORCED INTO POVERTY AS A RESULT OF PANDEMIC HEALTH COSTS

Mon 13 December 2021:

According to the World Health Organization and the World Bank, more than half a billion people worldwide were pushed into extreme poverty last year as they paid for health costs out of their own pockets during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic disrupted global health services and triggered the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, making it even more difficult for people to pay for healthcare, according to a joint statement issued by the two organizations on Sunday.

“All governments must immediately resume and accelerate efforts to ensure every one of their citizens can access health services without fear of the financial consequences,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Tedros urged governments to increase their focus on healthcare systems and stay on track toward universal health coverage, which the WHO defines as everyone having access to the health services they require without financial hardship.

Healthcare is a major political issue in the United States, which is one of the few industrialised countries that does not provide universal coverage to its citizens.

“Within a constrained fiscal space, governments will have to make tough choices to protect and increase health budgets,” Juan Pablo Uribe, global director for health, nutrition and population at World Bank, said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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