'Universal health: Everyone, Everywhere' - World Health Day - India News Times

April 8, 2019

NEW DELHI: Millions and millions of people on this earth still have no access at all to free and affordable health care. Because the choice is between health care and other daily essentials like food for most of the underprivileged. If you go for one you can't have the other!

The World Health Organisation celebrates World Health Day on every April 7. This last Sunday marked the end of the 70th anniversary celebrations. Universal health coverage is WHO’s number one goal. This time the message was "Universal health: Everyone, Everywhere.” The WHO has discovered that universal affordable healthcare means a multi-level attack on poverty, inequality, poor living conditions and lack of education.

"Although we have made enormous progress in recent years against some of the world’s leading causes of death and disease, we still have a lot of work to do to realize that vision (of universal health),” the WHO said.

“Today, half the world’s population cannot access essential health services. Millions of women give birth without help from a skilled attendant; millions of children miss out on vaccinations against killer diseases, and millions suffer and die because they can’t get treatment for HIV, TB, and malaria. In 2019, this is simply unacceptable,” it said.

'Universal health: Everyone, Everywhere' - Has anyone really benefited?