My Health: My Right

“Health is a basic human right. Everyone should be able to access quality health services whenever & wherever they need them.” - United Nations. Around the world, the right to health of millions is increasingly coming under threat. Diseases and disasters loom large as causes of death and disability. Conflicts are devastating lives, causing death, pain, hunger and psychological distress. The World Health Organization (WHO) Council on the Economics of Health for All has found that at least 140 countries recognize health as a human right in their constitution. Yet, countries are not passing and implementing laws to ensure their citizens are entitled to access health services. This underpins the fact that at least 4.5 billion people more than half of the world’s population were not fully covered by essential health services in 2021. World Health Day (WHD) is celebrated on 7 April every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. The observance of World Health Day is seen as an opportunity by the organization to drive worldwide attention to a subject of major importance for global health each year. World Health Day is one of eight official global health annual campaigns marked by the World Health Organization. This year’s theme for World Health Day 2024 is 'My health, my right’. This year’s theme was chosen to champion the right of everyone, everywhere to have access to quality health services, education, and information, as well as safe drinking water, clean air, good nutrition, quality housing, decent working and environmental conditions, and freedom from discrimination. Good Health and Well-Being. The observance of World Health Day cannot be done in isolation from highlighting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals especially goal #3 that addresses good health and well-being. According to the United Nations, the COVID-19 pandemic and other ongoing crises are hindering progress in achieving SDG3, exacerbating existing health inequalities and threatening progress towards universal health coverage. As a result, 68 million children are known to be un- or under-vaccinated as of 2022 from TB and malaria. This has been particularly challenging in low- and middle-income countries, where health systems were already under-resourced before the pandemic. The pandemic has also highlighted the need for stronger global health security systems to prevent and respond to future pandemics. Overcoming these setbacks and dealing with longstanding shortcomings in health-care provision requires an urgent strengthening of health systems. The following are also areas of concern for the UN. The global maternal mortality ratio decreased only from 227 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015 to 223 in 2020, still over three times higher than the target of 70 maternal deaths by 2030. This means that almost 800 women are still dying from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth every day. Almost 95% of these deaths occurred in low and lower-middle-income countries. The global average annual rate of reduction was only 0.04% in the period of 2016-2020, significantly lower than the 2.7% rate in 2000-2015. To meet the target, the annual rate of reduction needs to increase to 11% between 2020 and 2030. In 2022, 86% of global births were attended by skilled health personnel, which increased from 81% in 2015, but coverage in sub-Saharan Africa was only 70%. The UN adds that progress towards the SDG target of ending communicable diseases by 2030 remains off course even though progress varies across different diseases. Tremendous progress has, for instance, been made in reducing new HIV infections, particularly in the highest-burden regions: the estimated 1.5 million new HIV infections in 2021 was almost one-third fewer than in 2010. This is however still far from the 2025 target of fewer than 370,000 new HIV infections as agreed by the UN General Assembly in 2021. A 2020 study shows that the projected global shortage of health workers by 2030 has reduced from 18 million to 10 million. Despite the tremendous increase in health workforce globally, regions with the highest burden of disease continue to have the lowest proportion of health workforce to deliver health services. According to data from 2014-2021, sub-Saharan Africa continues to have the lowest health worker density, with only 2.3 medical doctors and 12.6 nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population. In contrast, Europe has the highest density of 39.4 doctors per 10,000 population, while North America has 152 nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population. Health Challenges in the Caribbean And Latin America. A recent report has revealed that the Caribbean needs to re-calibrate its healthcare priorities by securing more funding and learning how to spend resources better. The report is published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank and is titled the Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2020, the first publication of the organization that zeroes in on the region. It says that total health expenditure across the Caribbean countries is on average 6.6% of their gross domestic product (GDP). This is lower compared to the 8.8% of other OECD countries. Spending varied from 1.1% in Venezuela to up to 11.7% in Cuba and 9.2% in Uruguay in 2017. The report also shows that health systems in the region heavily rely on out-of-pocket expenditures or supplemental private insurance from households, with an average of 54.3% of total health spending for government spending and compulsory health insurance. Countries that have the highest private spending are Honduras, Haiti and Guatemala. Cuba and Costa Rica have the lowest. Additionally, the Inter-American Development Bank states that Latin American and Caribbean countries will face significant increases in future health expenditures. A variety of factors are responsible - population growth and aging, the epidemiological transition to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and economic growth and technology, among others. Increasing health expenditures are particularly concerning to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) given growing levels of debt, insufficient fiscal revenues, and high out-of-pocket payments. The projected average annual per capita CHE growth rate from 2018-2050 is slightly higher in Latin American countries (3.2%) than in the Caribbean (2.4%). The share of health expenditure in GDP is projected to increase to 2030 in all LAC countries except for Guyana. Primary Health Care (PHC) is rooted in a commitment to social justice, equity, solidarity and participation. It is based on the recognition that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction. For universal health coverage (UHC) to be truly universal, a shift is needed from health systems designed around diseases and institutions towards health systems designed for people, with people. PHC requires governments at all levels to underscore the importance of action beyond the health sector in order to pursue a whole-of government approach to health, including health-in-all-policies, a strong focus on equity and interventions that encompass the entire life-course. PHC addresses the broader determinants of health and focuses on the comprehensive and interrelated aspects of physical, mental and social health and wellbeing. It provides whole-person care for health needs throughout the lifespan, not just for a set of specific diseases. Primary health care ensures people receive quality comprehensive care - ranging from promotion and prevention to treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care - as close as feasible to people’s everyday environment. The Way Forward. Healthcare systems globally are reservoirs of inequality. In most societies the economically disadvataged and vulnerable languish daily trying to access healthcare. Hours of productivity are lost on any given day due to the lengthy wait period necessary to access health care. Sadly, in many instances unless you are connected to a high ranking official it is likely you will suffer in pain while waiting on an appointment day. Do you think we can do better for our people? It is obvious that governments need to invest more in health care systems. The training and retention of health care workers especially in the Global South will always be problematic as the Global North will have the advantage of attracting these workers by offering better salaries and conditions of work. Successive governments over the years have spoken about universal health insurance for all Jamaicans; sadly, nothing has been done to bring this into reality. We live in a time when more and more people are living beyond three scores and ten. Advances in medical sciences have facilitated the average life expectancy age to increase in many societies. However, with longevity comes the possibility of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, asthma and cancers. Globally, obesity is a growing problem as more of our population is overweight. The time to revisit Physical Education is now. There is a school of thought that favours physical education for all grades. Without a doubt being overweight is a root cause for ill-health. On this World Health Day governments are charged to examine innovative ways to ensure that universal health care becomes a reality. Access to affordable healthcare is a human right. “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”- 3 John 2. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com #WorldHealthDay #MyHealthMyRight #SDG3 ©