Universal health coverage:
everyone, everywhere.
Laxman Dhakal
Baglung Nepal
lmd.bibash@gmail.com
The World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on 7 April, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as other related organisations.
Baglung Nepal
lmd.bibash@gmail.com
The World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on 7 April, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as other related organisations.
In 1948, the WHO held
the First World Health Assembly. The Assembly decided to celebrate 7 April of
each year, with effect from 1950, as the World Health Day. The World Health Day
is held to mark WHO's founding, and is seen as an opportunity by the
organization to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to
global health each year. The WHO organizes international, regional and local
events on the Day related to a particular theme. World Health Day is
acknowledged by various governments and non-governmental organizations with
interests in public health issues, who also organize activities and highlight
their support in media reports, such as the Global Health Council.
Key facts
1. At
least half of the world’s populations still do not have full coverage of
essential health services.
2. About
100 million people are still being pushed into “extreme poverty” (living on $
1.90 (1) or less a day) because they have to pay for health care.
3. Over
800 million people (almost 12 percent of the world’s population) spent at least
10 percent of their household budgets to pay for health care.
4. All
UN Member States have agreed to try to achieve universal health coverage (UHC)
by 2030, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Universal health coverage (UHC)
UHC means that all
individuals and communities receive the health services they need without
suffering financial hardship. It includes the full spectrum of essential,
quality health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment,
rehabilitation, and palliative care. 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.
Protecting people from
the financial consequences of paying for health services out of their own
pockets reduces the risk that people will be pushed into poverty because
unexpected illness requires them to use up their life savings, sell assets, or
borrow – destroying their futures and often those of their children.
Achieving UHC is one of
the targets the nations of the world set when adopting the Sustainable
Development Goals in 2015. Countries that progress towards UHC will make
progress towards the other health-related targets, and towards the other goals.
Good health allows children to learn and adults to earn, helps people escape
from poverty, and provides the basis for long-term economic development.
UHC was measuring
indicators
WHO uses 16 essential
health services in 4 categories as indicators of the level and equity of
coverage in countries.
Reproductive, maternal,
newborn and child health:
I.
family planning
II.
antenatal and delivery care
III.
full child immunization
IV.
Health-seeking behaviour for pneumonia.
Infectious diseases:
I.
tuberculosis treatment
II.
HIV antiretroviral treatment
III.
use of insecticide-treated bed nets for
malaria prevention
IV.
Adequate sanitation.
Non-communicable
diseases:
I.
prevention and treatment of raised blood
pressure
II.
prevention and treatment of raised blood
glucose
III.
cervical cancer screening
IV.
tobacco (non-)smoking.
Service capacity and
access:
I.
basic hospital access
II.
health worker density
III.
access to essential medicines
IV.
health security: compliance with the
International Health Regulations.
Each country is unique,
and each country may focus on different areas, or develop their own ways of
measuring progress towards UHC. But there is also value in a global approach
that uses standardized measures that are internationally recognized so that
they are comparable across borders and over time.
Themes of world
health Day:
a) 1995: Global Polio Eradication
b) 1996: Healthy Cities for better life
c) 1997: Emerging infectious diseases
d) 1998: Safe motherhood
e) 1999: Active aging makes the difference
f) 2000: Safe Blood starts with me
g) 2001: Mental Health: stop exclusion, dare
to care
h) 2002: Move for health
i) 2003: Shape the future of life: healthy
environments for children
j) 2004: Road safety
k) 2005: Make every mother and child count
l) 2006: Working together for health
m) 2007: International health security
n) 2008: Protecting health from the adverse
effects of climate change
o) 2009: Save lives, Make hospitals safe in
emergencies
p) 2010: Urbanization and health: make cities
healthier
q) 2011: Antimicrobial resistance: no action
today, no cure tomorrow
r) 2012: Good health adds life to years
s) 2013: Healthy heart beat, Healthy blood
pressure
t) 2014: Vector-borne diseases: small bite,
big threat
u) 2015: Food safety
v) 2016: Halt the rise: beat diabetes
w) 2017: Depression: Let's talk
x) 2018: Universal Health Coverage
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