Policy Hub
On 14 October 2008, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published the World Health Report 2008 (Primary health care – now more than ever) which critically assesses the way that health care is organised, financed, and delivered in rich and poor countries around the world. The WHO report documents a number of failures and shortcomings that have left the health status of different populations, both within and between countries, dangerously out of balance.
The report highlights striking inequities in health outcomes, in access to care, and in what people have to pay for care. Differences in life expectancy between the richest and poorest countries now exceed 40 years. Similarly, of the estimated 136 million women who will give birth this year, around 58 million will receive no medical assistance whatsoever during childbirth and the postpartum period, endangering their lives and those of their children. Globally, the report finds that annual government expenditure on health varies from as little as US$ 20 per person to well over US$ 6000.
It contends that the available evidence reveals that many health systems have lost their focus on fair access to care, their ability to invest resources wisely, and their capacity to meet the needs and expectations of people, especially in impoverished and marginalized groups.
To steer health systems towards better performance, the report calls for a return to primary health care. When countries at the same level of economic development are compared, those where health care is organised around the tenets of primary health care produce a higher level of heath for the same investment.