Some one billion people are unable to pay for any health services, and approximately 100 million paying for health services are pushed into poverty every year, according to a statement made on Monday by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO, in a global report on financing health systems, indicates that all countries, irrespective of their level of wealth, could a better job in providing universal coverage, as well as improving the health system’s efficiency, and further enhance access to healthcare via innovative fund-raising programs and using new taxes.
According to WHO’s director of health systems financing, David Evans, health services are simply inexistent for many people, while a large portion of those who could benefit from them cannot afford the costs. He also stated on the briefing of the report’s findings that when health services are not affordable, people tend not to use them or will go through severe financial hardships to benefit from healthcare.
The World Health Report 2010 lays out steps that countries could take to raise more funds and make health services more efficient and affordable by reducing financial barriers.
According to the report, a way to stop impoverishing people by costly healthcare services is to limit direct payments, straight out of the patients’ pockets, to less than 15-20 percent of a country’s total expenses on health services.
However up to this day, direct payments from individuals still make up for more than 50 percent of health expenditures in 33 low- and middle-income countries.
Governments should also search for additional income sources for the health care system, by putting taxes on products that have a negative impact on health – tobacco, alcohol, and also by currency trading taxes and “solidarity” taxes on other sectors.
An example of these suggestions is the state of Gabon, which raised $30 million for health in 2009 by imposing a 1.5 percent levy on companies handling remittances and a 10 percent tax on mobile phone operators. The report also said that if India were to implement a 0.005 percent toll on foreign currency transactions, it would be able to raise $370 million every year.
In a foreword to the report, WHO director general Margaret Chan wrote that no one should risk damaging effects to their budget when searching to get curative or preventive health services.
According to the WHO, some 20 to 40 percent of health expenditure results from irresponsible spending, on costly but unnecessary medicine, lack of efficiency in hospitals and bad management of capable professionals’ time.
