Developing Countries Spend 500 Billion Dollars On Health

People in developing countries spend 80 US dollars annually (per person) which amounts to half a trillion in total annually-to access to health services- as the world bank group report revealed.

These expenses tend to hit hard on the poor since they even find it difficult to access that money which makes them get poor health attention.

The report by the world bank group says that lack of universal access to quality, affordable health services threatens decades-long progress on health, endangers countries’ long-term economic prospects, and makes them more vulnerable to pandemic risks.

“Health is an essential human capital investment that countries must make for their people to succeed at school and at work,” said Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank.

“We must act urgently to fix the insufficient, inefficient, and inequitable financing of health that is holding back people and countries.”

The report, titled ‘High-Performance Health Financing for Universal Health Coverage’, projects that by the year 2030, the target date of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there will be a 176 billion dollars  gap in the 54 poorest countries between the financing needed to provide their populations with quality, affordable health services and funding that is actually available.

World Bank warns that without urgent action, developing countries faced with aging populations and growing burdens of non-communicable diseases will find themselves increasingly challenged to close the gap between the demand for health spending and available public resources, and will prolong the reliance on out-of-pocket spending by patients and their families.

The report calls for increases in national investments in health and making an investment in health a whole-of-government priority, improving financial sustainability by scaling proven investments like primary health services that reach the poorest, and taxing tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks to raise revenue and improve health.

World Bank suggests that international assistance for health should be increased, focused on countries and populations that are furthest behind and on building national institutions and capacities.

Globally, health is an important economic sector that accounts for 11 percent of GDP and generates millions of jobs, many of them for women.

Read Also: The Ailing Health Sector: Should It Be Taken Back to the National Government?