Rise in health spending pushing 100mn people to extreme poverty: WHO

Geneva: Health spending, which accounts for 10 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), is pushing 100 million people into extreme poverty each year, says a report by the World Health Organization (WHO). Health spending is made up of government expenditure, out-of-pocket payments (people paying for their own care) and sources such as voluntary health insurance, employer-provided health programmes and activities by non-governmental organisations.

The report “2018 Global Health Expenditure” revealed that in low and middle-income countries health spending is growing on average 6 per cent annually compared with 4 per cent in high-income countries. While governments provide an average of 51 per cent of a country’s health spending, more than 35 per cent of health spending per country comes from out-of-pocket expenses. And as a consequence, 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty each year, the report said. “Increased domestic spending is essential for achieving universal health coverage and the health-related sustainable development goals,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement on Wednesday. (IANS)

Also Read: International News