The World Health Organisation says health is a human right, hence the need for governments across the world to make healthcare accessible and affordable to all.
The United Nations agency stated this on Thursday in commemoration of the 2020 Human Rights Day.
It noted that health costs prevent millions of people from seeking or getting the care they need, adding, “Protecting the right to health means protecting people from financial hardship.”
“Health is a human right,” the WHO added.
Today is #HumanRightsDay
Health costs prevent millions of people from seeking or getting the care they need. Protecting the right to health means protecting people from financial hardship.
HEALTH IS A HUMAN RIGHT.
It’s time for #HealthForAll pic.twitter.com/3CiMED5zxa
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 10, 2020
It stated that COVID-19 had been a painful reminder that investing in health is not optional, saying, “Health for all is the foundation of stable, equitable, prosperous and peaceful societies and economies that protect everyone.”
It lamented that 800 million people globally spend at least 10 percent of their household budget on healthcare, “meaning, some families must choose between health and other essentials, such as food and education.”
The global agency urged, “Let’s recover better from COVID-19 by ensuring that human rights are central to the recovery efforts to reach our common goals.
Continuing, the WHO noted that COVID-19 struck only a few months after world leaders endorsed the landmark Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage, which recommends committing to accelerated efforts towards the achievement of universal health coverage so that everyone can access the health services they require, when and where they need them, without suffering financial hardship as a result.
It’s Human Rights Day
Let’s recover better from #COVID19 by ensuring #HumanRights are central to the recovery efforts to reach our common
goals:
#HealthForAll
equal opportunities for everyone
greener planet
It’s time to #StandUp4HumanRights pic.twitter.com/SNp16iGVu8
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 10, 2020
“The pandemic is testing our resolve to deliver health for all and threatens to undo decades of progress.
“It has disrupted delivery of essential health services in many countries, stretched resources to the limits, and revealed the impact of decades of underinvestment in primary care and essential public health functions.
“A series of pulse surveys reveal slow-downs and setbacks in delivering key health services and reaching globally agreed targets.
“Initiatives to boost immunisation, sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health, care for the ageing, and to end diseases have all been negatively impacted.
“This puts additional pressure on vulnerable population groups with unmet health needs.
“Even before the crisis, at least half of the world’s population did not have full coverage of essential health services and about 100 million people were pushed into extreme poverty because they have had to spend on health care beyond their ability to pay,” the WHO stated.
The organisation said though the COVID-19 global pandemic had brought terrible suffering and loss in its wake, it has also reminded humanity of the need to be concerned about the health and safety of the people around us.
“It also showed what we risk when we upset the delicate balance between people and planet,” warning that humanity must not return to the way things were before the pandemic.
The organisation urges humans to cherish and protect the source of human health — that is, the natural world; to invest in vital life-saving services such as access to water and sanitation; as well as clean energy in healthcare facilities.
It urged the global transition to renewable sources of energy; switching to sustainable and healthy food systems; making towns and cities green and healthy; and shifting from an economy driven by profit and pollution to an economy driven by fairness and wellbeing.
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