The World Bank has disclosed its plans to extend support to countries in delivering quality and affordable health services to some 1.5 billion people across the world by 2030.
This forms part of a larger global effort to provide a basic standard of care through every stage of human life, including infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
Mr Ajay Banga, World Bank Group (WBG) President, said this during one of the side events at the 2024 WBG/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings in Washington, USA, noting that providing a basic standard of care for people throughout their lives was critical for development.
Ghana, being one of the Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) countries, would benefit from the initiative.
Globally, more than 4.5 billion people lack access to essential health services, with some two billion people, facing financial hardships due to health-related expenses.
Mr Ajay Banga noted that the situation had been compounded by risks in climate change, pandemics, fragility, and conflict, and pledged the Bank’s commitment to increasing quality and affordable access to more people.
Therefore, the World Bank aims to reach the 1.5 billion people with a focus on non-communicable diseases in addition to the maternal and child health coverage throughout a person’s lifetime.
There would also be expansion of operations to hard-to-reach areas, including remote villages, cities, and countries, while working with governments to cut unnecessary fees and other financial barriers to health care.
“The Bank has been working in 100 countries for a while, on maternal and neonatal efforts to improve the delivery of care to women and young babies,” he said.
He added that the Bank was working to widen this health access to include diseases among adolescents and the older age, covering diseases like heart attacks, diabetes, and blood pressure.
“That’s what we’re trying to do with this effort; reach 1.5 billion people over the coming period with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other partners, and make that happen by 2030,” he said.
Mr Ajay Banga emphasised that: “Reaching them is not only putting up a centre, but ensuring that they have access to medical appointments, physically or through telehealth.”
The Bank would be providing concessional and grant financing to the Bank’s International Development Association (IDA countries), the World Bank President stated.
He indicated that middle-income countries would also be incentivised to create the right regulatory policies, as well as the involvement of the private sector in the manufacture of PPE, and essential medicine, for example.
“This ambition won’t be realised with a solo effort. It will require partners, a coalition of public and private sector, working together to expand access to health care services,” he said.
For progress to be made in global healthcare delivery, Mr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organisation, called for a stronger political and financial commitment from governments.
He encouraged Finance Ministers to increase public funding in health, saying, “commitment to universal health coverage is ambitious, but it’s possible.”
He cited the United Kingdom’s effort to reach universal health coverage after the second world war, as an example, saying, “when its economy was on its knees, it declared universal health coverage, and it started immediately after the world war.
“So, economic starters cannot be an issue; you can start with what you have. The key is the commitment, then you can build up.” Mr Ghebreyesus said.
Between now and 2030, he said it was important for countries to focus on reducing under-five and maternal mortality through the promotion of primary healthcare – which covers more than 80 per cent of global health issues.
“Many of the health problems are in the food we eat, the air we breathe, the environment we live in, and our lifestyles, and we should start from there,” the WHO Director-General said.
