The state of the world's health
At this year's World Health Assembly a record number of issues
was debated and resolutions adopted to strengthen health systems.
by Martin Khor
The premier international conference on public health policy is the
World Health Assembly, organised by the World Health Organisation, which
attracts Ministers of Health and other top health officials as well as
non-governmental organisations to Geneva every year.
This is where the latest trends in public health problems are
presented and debated, and action plans for solutions are adopted.This
year's Assembly, which closed on May 24, had 3,500 participants and saw
a record number of issues debated and resolutions adopted.
One of the key buzzwords during the Assembly was "universal health
coverage" (UHC).
This is being promoted by the WHO and several governments as one of
the goals for the United Nations' post-2015 Development Agenda.
There is no precise definition for the term, but it is widely taken
to mean that everyone should have access to medical treatment and other
health services.
Inability to pay should not prevent someone from being 'covered' by
the health system, and people should not become financially burdened to
receive treatment. The UHC concept is a great one, similar to the
"health for all by the year 2000" slogan that the WHO adopted in the
1980s. The "right to health" is one of the human rights recognised by
the United Nations.
UHC was the centre of discussion at the panel session on the
post-2015 Development Agenda, halfway through the WHA. WHO Director
General Margaret Chan stated that there are various ways to finance and
achieve UHC and it is for each country to choose its own model.
If UHC is adopted, it will be a big step forward towards equity in
the health system.
In a resolution on health in the post-2015 development agenda, the
Assembly proposed priority for the health of the newborn,
non-communicable diseases, mental health, neglected tropical diseases
and completion of existing health Millennium Development Goals.
It also stressed the importance of universal health coverage and the
need to strengthen health systems. The Assembly also adopted a
resolution on antibiotic resistance after many delegates expressed their
concerns that the bacteria's growing resistance to medicines was making
it difficult to treat many diseases.The WHO had recently issued a report
showing increasing prevalence of resistance in many diseases including
tuberculosis (TB), pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, skin diseases, and
gonorrhoea.
It warned of a post-antibiotic era, where drugs will no longer be
able to cure infectious diseases.
The resolution urges governments to strengthen the proper use and
management of drugs, support research to extend the life span of
existing drugs, and to develop antibiotics and diagnostic technologies.
The WHO was asked to develop a draft global action plan within a year
to combat antimicrobial resistance, that includes rational drug use,
better surveillance, access to medicines and discovery of new drugs.
The Assembly adopted the first-ever global plan to end preventable
deaths of newly born babies and stillbirths by 2035, and called for all
countries to aim for fewer than 10 newborn deaths per 1,000 live births
and less than 10 stillbirths per 1,000 total births by 2035.Every year
almost three million babies die in the first month of life and 2.6
million babies are stillborn (they die in the last three months of
pregnancy or during childbirth). The Plan's goals will require every
country to invest in high-quality care before, during and after
childbirth for every pregnant woman and newborn.
The Assembly also approved the WHO's strategy to help countries
improve access to essential medicines.
Key principles include selecting a limited range of medicines using
best evidence, efficient procurement, affordable prices, effective
distribution systems, and rational use. Another new global strategy was
adopted for TB, aimed at ending the global TB epidemic, with targets to
reduce TB deaths by 95 percent and to cut new cases by 90 percent by
2035.
Non-communicable diseases, including those caused by diet, were also
discussed. At her opening speech, Dr Chan highlighted the increase in
childhood obesity, especially in developing countries, and announced a
Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity.
The health plight of the poor in middle-income countries was also a
theme at the Assembly. Dr. Chan highlighted that 70 percent of the
world's poor live in middle-income countries. She called for policies to
ensure benefits are fairly shared.
A side-event by health NGOs focused on how the middle-income
countries were being left out of schemes such as supply of free
medicines or the relaxation of patent rules to help the poor, as these
are often reserved for low-income countries.
- Third World Network Features.
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