Despite the recent surge in global healthcare spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report by
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reveals a troubling reality: most governments are failing to invest adequately in public healthcare systems.
The analysis, based on the
World Health Organization's (WHO) data, shows that in 2021 – while the COVID-19 pandemic was still rolling – most countries fell short of recommended spending targets, said Jack Spehn, HRW senior associate for economic justice and rights.
Ideally, governments should allocate at least
5 percent of their GDP or 15 percent of their national budgets to healthcare. But the majority of the world’s nations failed to meet both benchmarks, Spehn said.
These included
Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, which all spent below the ideal 5 percent threshold even at the height of the pandemic.
Moreover, he said, even while per capita GDP increased in many countries between 2019 and 2021, at least 40 countries saw a decrease in their public healthcare spending after adjusting for inflation. This indicates a deliberate shift in resource allocation away from public health despite economic growth.
“Sustained public financing on health is urgently needed to progress towards universal health coverage. It is especially critical at this time when the world is confronted by the climate crisis, conflicts and other complex emergencies,” said Dr. Bruce Aylward,
WHO assistant director general, in a separate 2023 report.
The HRW analysis coincided with World Health Day (April 7), when
WHO launched a campaign, dubbed “My Health, My Right,” urging universal access to quality health services as well as safe drinking water, clean air, good nutrition, quality housing, decent working and environmental conditions, and freedom from discrimination.
Currently, the WHO estimates that at least 2 billion people still find it hard to cope with health costs, prompting fresh calls for universal health care to scale up primary health care, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
“Realizing the right to health requires governments to pass and implement laws, invest, address discrimination, and be held accountable by their populations,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.