Health Action International Statement to the 77th World Health Assembly: Universal Health Coverage (UHC)
Thank you chair,
Health Action International (HAI) notes the report submitted to the Executive Board. In spite of partial improvements, UHC is still little more than an aspiration for too many. It remains a scandal that those most affected by lack of access to public health coverage and subject to out-of-pocket expenditures are the most impoverished sectors of the population.
There cannot be UHC without proper access to health technologies. It is critical that to achieve any economic sustainability of public health systems, governments make use of all the policy instruments at their disposal including, but not limited to, non-voluntary measures to curb excessive high prices of medicines, lack of competition, and misuse and abuse of intellectual property tools.
In addition, while we commend the Secretariat for its ongoing dialogue with governments and other stakeholders, we believe that funding for services that serve public health needs should be protected from austerity measures derived from servicing loans granted by financial institutions.
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May 2024
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