One billion people cannot afford healthcare: WHO

Around a billion people cannot afford any health services, and paying for healthcare pushes about 100 million people a year into poverty, the World Health Organisation said on Monday. In a global report on financing health systems, the United Nations health body said all countries, rich and poor, could do more towards getting universal coverage and urged them to think about ways to increase efficiency and use new taxes and innovative fund-raising measures to boost access to healthcare.

The World Health Report 2010 lays out steps countries could take to raise more funds and reduce financial barriers to obtaining healthcare, and to make health services more efficient. It found that to stop payment for healthcare impoverishing people, direct, out-of-pocket payments should make up less than 15 to 20 per cent of a country's total health spending. Yet currently, in 33 mainly low- and middle-income countries, direct payments from individuals receiving healthcare still account for more than 50 per cent of total health spending. If India were to implement a levy of 0.005 per cent on foreign exchange transactions, it could raise $370 million per year, the report said. Gabon raised $30m for health in 2009 by imposing a 1.5 per cent levy on companies handling remittances and a 10 per cent tax on mobile phone operators.