In her speech, World Health Organization General Secretar Dr Margaret Chan referred to the current global economic crisis and its consequences for the health sector. The health sector had no say when the policies responsible for these crises were made, yet it bears the brunt. The remarks point to the high level of preventable disease and lack of access to health care services, and to massive inequalities in resources for health. For 5.6 billion people in low- and middle-income countries, more than half of all health care expenditure is through out-of-pocket payments. With the costs of health care rising and systems for financial protection in disarray, personal expenditures on health now push more than 100 million people below the poverty line each year. Last week, WHO issued its annual World Health Report which documents a number of failures and shortcomings that have left the health status of different populations, both within and between countries, dangerously out of balance. The WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health report challenges governments to make equity an explicit policy objective in all government sectors. "Equity in access to health care comes to the fore as a way of holding globalization accountable, of channelling globalization in ways that ensure a more fair distribution of benefits, a more balanced and healthy world".
Equity in Health
During her opening address at the 8th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Helsinki, Finland on 10 June, WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan stated that inequalities, between and within countries, in income levels, opportunities, and health outcomes, are now greater than at any time in recent decades. The rise of non-communicable diseases threatens to widen these gaps even further. she noted that public health must contend with Big Tobacco, Big Food, Big Soda, and Big Alcohol. All of these industries fear regulation, and protect themselves by using the same tactics. For WHO, formulation of health policies must be protected from distortion by commercial or vested interests. She referred to the Finnish government as an example to follow, as it has been a leading proponent of the need for all sectors of government to consider the health impact of their policies. Finland put the health-in-all-policies approach under the spotlight during its presidency of the European Union in 2006. Such an approach makes perfect sense, she argued. The determinants of health are exceptionally broad. Policies made in other sectors can have a profound, and often adverse, effect on health. The globalisation of unhealthy lifestyles is by no means just a technical issue for public health. It is a political, trade and foreign affairs issue.
Africa is estimated to have seven times more COVID-19 cases and three times as many deaths as officially reported, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa region. This means that the continent could have around 59 million cases and 634,500 deaths. “We’re using a model to estimate the degree of under-estimation. The analysis indicates that as few as one in seven cases is being detected, meaning that the true COVID-19 burden in Africa could be around 59 million people,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa executive director. WHO recommends that countries perform 10 tests per 10,000 people each week yet around 20 countries – more than a third of African countries – do not reach this benchmark, said Moeti. The WHO has thus decided to invest $1.8 million to roll out COVID-19 rapid tests in hot spots, starting with pilots in eight countries. Despite this undercount, WHO Africa officials observe lower deaths in Africa than other global regions.
More than 80% of people living in urban areas that monitor air pollution are exposed to air quality levels that exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) limits. While all regions of the world are affected, populations in low-income cities are the most impacted. According to the latest air quality database, 97% of cities in low- and middle income countries with more than 100 000 inhabitants do not meet WHO air quality guidelines. However, in high-income countries, that percentage decreases to 49%. In the past two years, the database – now covering more than 4000 cities in 108 countries – has nearly doubled, with more cities measuring air pollution levels and recognizing the associated health impacts. As urban air quality declines, the risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma, increases for the people who live in them.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has underlined the need to urgently tackle the health issues highlighted in the Millennium Project's "Investing in Development" report. The report provides detailed recommendations on how the world must immediately and massively increase the investment in health programmes to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This includes programmes to deliver AIDS treatment, to improve maternal and child health, to control and treat tuberculosis and malaria, and to make more medicines affordable.
The World Health Organisation was due to reveal the first details of its global strategy to bring low-cost HIV/AIDS drugs to 3 million people in poor countries towards the end of October, a plan that top officials said will eventually include endorsement of pills that combine three antiretroviral drugs in a single tablet, the Washington Post reported.
The World Health Organisation announced last month that it will create a new model to buy antiretroviral AIDS drugs in hopes of dramatically speeding distribution and reducing the cost of the life-saving medication. The plan comes from collaboration among tuberculosis experts, foremost among them the new WHO director general, Jong-wook Lee. That program, called the TB Drug Facility, purchases drugs in bulk on behalf of countries and then oversees the distribution.
Read a response to this article in the Letters section of Equinet News.
The European Union has proposed that the World Health Organisation serve as an objective third party in an attempt to stop the "impasse" in negotiations among 144 World Trade Organisation members about how to improve developing nations' access to drugs used to fight public health crises, including HIV/AIDS, the AP/Nando Times reports. The United States' position that only certain types of diseases should be covered under the deal "blocked" ambassadors from meeting a self-imposed deadline of Dec. 31, 2002, according to the AP/Nando Times. The negotiations focus on how to allow developing nations to import generic versions of patented drugs to fight diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
The World Health Organisation has rejected allegations in the London Guardian that its policies on diet and nutrition were unduly influenced by the food industry, saying it welcomed open debate with all stakeholders and had strengthened its procedures against covert lobbying. The agency said it welcomed open and transparent debate on the issue from all interested groups as the agency sought to develop a global strategy on diet, physical activity and health.
A new report by the World Health Organisation in the style of a glossy but hard hitting brochure aims to draw attention to the global tuberculosis epidemic that has been spurred by the spread of HIV and multidrug resistant tuberculosis strains. The report aims to underline the programme’s call for free anti-tuberculosis drugs, which have proved highly effective in curing tuberculosis in patients with HIV infection and AIDS.