By DPA,
Geneva/Berlin : Millions of people are pushed into poverty each year as a result of rising costs for healthcare, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Monday.
In the poorest parts of the world, many people miss out on health care altogether, as they simply cannot afford to pay doctors’ bills or purchase medicines.
In some countries, women in the richest 20 percent of the population are up to 20 times more likely to have a birth attended by a skilled health worker than a poorer woman, the WHO noted in a report on health financing.
The impact of the costs is worst in countries where patients pay directly for services at the point of delivery, the WHO study found.
An estimated 100 million people fall into poverty each year as a result of their health bills.
“No one in need of health care should have to risk financial ruin as a result,” said Margaret Chan, head of the Geneva-based WHO.
Meanwhile, governments are also feeling the squeeze.
“As populations get older, as more people suffer chronic diseases, and as new and more expensive treatments appear, health costs soar,” the report found.
To address the problem, the WHO recommended that countries raise more funds for health.
One way money could be raised was through higher taxes on cigarettes, the agency recommended.
The money that is available should be spent more efficiently, the WHO said, giving the example of France, where doctors often prescribe generic drugs instead of branded products to cuts costs.
But for the world’s poorest nations there is no escaping international aid to fund improved health systems, the WHO said, urging wealthy nations to increase their funding for development assistance.