Key messages for World Health Day 2018

• Universal health coverage is about ensuring all people can get quality health services, where and when they need them, without suffering financial hardship.
• No one should have to choose between good health and other life necessities.
• UHC is key to people’s and nations’ health and well-being.
• UHC is feasible. Some countries have made great progress. Their challenge is to maintain coverage to meet people’s expectations.
• All countries will approach UHC in different ways: there is no one size fits all. But every country can do something to advance UHC.
• Making health services truly universal requires a shift from designing health systems around diseases and institutions towards health services designed around and for people.
• Everyone can play a part in the path to UHC, by taking part in a UHC conversation.

Too many people are currently missing out on health coverage

“Universal” in UHC means “for all”, without discrimination, leaving no one behind. Everyone everywhere has a right to benefit from health services they need without falling into poverty when using them.

Here are some facts and figures about the state of UHC today:

• At least half of the world’s people is currently unable to obtain essential health services.
• Almost 100 million people are being pushed into extreme poverty, forced to survive on just $1.90 or less a day, because they have to pay for health services out of their own pockets.
• Over 800 million people (almost 12 percent of the world’s population) spend at least 10 percent of their household budgets on health expenses for themselves, a sick child or other family member. They incur so-called “catastrophic expenditures”.
• Incurring catastrophic expenses for health care is a global problem. In richer countries in Europe, Latin America and parts of Asia, which have achieved high levels of access to health services, increasing numbers of people are spending at least 10 percent of their household budgets on out-of-pocket health expenses.

What UHC is

• UHC means that all people and communities receive the health services they need without suffering financial hardship.
• UHC enables everyone to access the services that address the most important causes of disease and death and ensures that the quality of those services is good enough to improve the health of the people who receive them.

What UHC is not

• UHC does not mean free coverage for all possible health interventions, regardless of the cost, as no country can provide all services free of charge on a sustainable basis.
• UHC is not only about ensuring a minimum package of health services, but also about ensuring a progressive expansion of coverage of health services and financial protection as more resources become available.
• UHC is not only about medical treatment for individuals, but also includes services for whole populations such as public health campaigns – for example adding fluoride to water or controlling the breeding grounds of mosquitoes that carry viruses that can cause disease.
• UHC is not just about health care and financing the health system of a country. It encompasses all components of the health system: systems and healthcare providers that deliver health services to people, health facilities and communications networks, health technologies, information systems, quality assurance mechanisms and governance and legislation.

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WHO at 70 – working for better health for everyone, everywhere

5 APRIL 2018 | GENEVA – On 7 April, World Health Day, the World Health Organization marks its 70th anniversary. Over the past 7 decades, WHO has spearheaded efforts to rid the world of killer diseases like smallpox and to fight against deadly habits like tobacco use.

This year, World Health Day is dedicated to one of WHO’s founding principles: “The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.”

“Good health is the most precious thing anyone can have,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “ When people are healthy, they can learn, work, and support themselves and their families. When they are sick, nothing else matters. Families and communities fall behind. That’s why WHO is so committed to ensuring good health for all.”

With 194 Member States, across six regions, and working from more than 150 offices, WHO staff are united in a shared drive to achieve better health for everyone, everywhere – and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring “healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages”.

The tagline for this year’s World Health Day is “Universal Health Coverage: everyone, everywhere”. WHO offices worldwide are organizing events to mark the day, with Dr Tedros joining celebrations in Sri Lanka.

70 years of progress

Globally, life expectancy has increased by 25 years since WHO was established. Some of the biggest health gains are seen among children under-5: in 2016, 6 million fewer children died before they reached their fifth birthday than in 1990. Smallpox has been defeated and polio is on the verge of eradication. Many countries have successfully eliminated measles, malaria and debilitating tropical diseases like guinea worm and elephantiasis, as well as mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

Bold new WHO recommendations for earlier, simpler treatment, combined with efforts to facilitate access to cheaper generic medicines, have helped 21 million people get life-saving treatment for HIV. The plight of more than 300 million people suffering from chronic hepatitis B and C infections is finally gaining global attention. And innovative partnerships have produced effective vaccines against meningitis and Ebola, as well as the world’s first ever malaria vaccine.

Producing international reference materials

From the very beginning, WHO has brought together the world’s top health experts to produce recommendations and international reference materials. These range from the International Classification of Diseases – currently used in 100 countries as a common standard for reporting diseases and identifying health trends, to the WHO Essential Medicines List ̶ a guide for countries on the key medicines that a national health system needs. In the coming weeks, it will publish the world’s first Essential Diagnostics List.

Making a difference on the ground

For decades, WHO staff have worked alongside governments and health professionals on the ground. In the early years, there was a strong focus on fighting infectious killers like smallpox, polio and diphtheria. The Expanded Programme on Immunization, for example, set up by WHO in the early 1970s, has, with the help of UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and others, brought lifesaving vaccines to millions of children. WHO estimates that immunization averts 2-3 million deaths every year.

Responding to new challenges

In recent decades, the world has seen a rise in noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. These diseases now account for 70% of all deaths. So WHO has shifted focus, along with health authorities around the world, to promote healthy eating, physical exercise and regular health checks.

The Organization has run global health campaigns on the prevention of diabetes, high blood pressure and depression. It also negotiated the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a formidable tool to help reduce disease and death caused by tobacco.

Using data to target our efforts

Tracking progress in all of these areas requires a strong monitoring system. Data collected from countries across the world is stored in and shared through WHO’s Global Health Observatory. This powerful tool helps countries get a clear picture of who is falling sick, from which disease, and where, so they can target efforts where they are needed most.

Remaining on constant alert

Every year, WHO studies influenza trends, to work out what should go into the next season’s vaccine. And it remains on constant alert against the threat of pandemic influenza. One hundred years after the flu pandemic of 1918, WHO is determined that the world should never again be subjected to such a threat to global health security.

A renewed commitment to prevent outbreaks from turning into epidemics, and to respond better and faster to humanitarian emergencies, has spurred the creation of a new health emergencies programme that works across all three levels of the Organization. WHO is currently responding to outbreaks and humanitarian crises in more than 40 countries.

Next month, at the World Health Assembly, the Organization will propose a bold new agenda that builds on lessons learnt and experience gained over the past 70 years. It will focus on achieving universal health coverage for 1 billion more people; protecting 1 billion more people from health emergencies and enabling 1 billion more people to enjoy better health and wellbeing – by 2023, the halfway point to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda deadline.