MANILA - In a world threatened by multiple crises, from diseases to disasters, conflicts and climate change, the right to health for all people is more important than ever. On World Health Day – which is celebrated every year on 7 April – the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging governments to accelerate action to realize the right to health for all of their people.
“Good health cannot be a luxury for the few. It is a fundamental right for all,” says Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.
“Health is an investment in every country’s present and future. The right to health cannot be realized if we don’t deliver on the promise of health for all that countries signed up to through the Sustainable Development Goals.”
With the theme “My health, my right,” World Health Day 2024 will stress the need for countries to accelerate action towards universal health coverage, so that all people can access quality health services when and where they need them, as well as addressing other key health threats.
Access denied
Despite significant progress over the past two decades, an estimated 782 million of the total 1.9 billion people in the Region – or more than two out of five people – still do not have full access to at least one essential health service, such as immunization, pregnancy and newborn care, treatments for communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis and HIV, as well as for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and hypertension.
Even for those who can access care, high out-of-pocket expenses often cause financial hardship. One in five people in the Region face catastrophic health care spending, meaning they pay an unreasonable amount of money (defined as 10% of their income), when accessing services. Health expenses often force them to choose between seeking care or paying for food and shelter for their families.
Today, vulnerable populations in the Region – including poorer and less educated groups, and those living in rural and peri-urban areas – still face the greatest challenges in accessing and paying for healthcare, the highest disease burdens and the worst health outcomes.
More than health services
The right to health has been at the heart of the mission of WHO since its founding in 1948. That year, the right to health was enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognized “the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being” of a person and their family as an “equal and inalienable” right for all.
The right to health does not relate solely to health services; it also requires other basic conditions for a healthy life, such as safe water, clean air, nutritious food, adequate housing, quality education, decent working conditions, and freedom from discrimination.
In 1950, only 40% of the Region lived until the age of 60. A hundred years after the right to health was established, that figure is expected to more than double to reach 94% by 2048.
But living longer does not necessarily mean living healthier unless more action is taken to support people’s right to health, such as reforming primary health care towards universal health coverage.
Growing NCD crises
Continued limited access to affordable, nutritious food, and increasingly polluted environments across the Region are contributing to a rise in NCDs such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
By 2048, an estimated 21 million people in the Western Pacific are expected to die each year from NCDs, accounting for nine out of 10 deaths in the Region. Health services to prevent and treat these diseases are not keeping up with demand.
Nearly 300 million people in the Region are unable to afford a healthy diet. Increased availability of cheaper, highly processed foods and drinks that are high in fats, sugars and/or salt and decreased availability of fresh fruits and vegetables are hindering people’s access to nutritious diets and contributing significantly to malnutrition.
Nearly one in four children over the age of 5 and nearly two in five adults in the Western Pacific are now overweight or obese. And these figures are growing.
Nine of the 10 countries in the world with the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity are located in the Pacific. Diet-related NCDs such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease are major causes of disability and early deaths in the Region.
Climate impacts
People also have the right to breathe clean air, drink safe water and use sanitation services. However, 99% of the people in the Western Pacific breathe air that exceeds WHO’s standards for pollution. Every 14 seconds, someone in the Region dies from air pollution, caused mainly by burning the same fossil fuels that drive climate change.
Nearly 90 million people in the Region do not use a basic drinking-water facility and more than 400 million do not have access to sanitation services (toilets) that safely manage human waste. Diarrhoea due to unsafe water and sanitation contributes to malnutrition, particularly among the poor, and the spread antimicrobial resistance.
“Through primary health care—as affirmed under the 2018 Declaration of Astana—countries must not only provide affordable, quality healthcare, they must also create healthy societies and environments that will protect people’s health and wellbeing today and into the future,” says Dr Piukala.
The big picture
To realize everyone’s right to health, WHO, Member States and partners are working together to transform health systems and achieve equitable access to affordable, good-quality health services. With strong primary health care, including adequate human resources and financial protection, countries will be able to deliver on the promise of universal health coverage.
Through the Universal Health Coverage: Moving Towards Better Health Action Framework for the Western Pacific Region endorsed by the Regional Committee in 2015, and the Regional Framework on the Future of Primary Health Care in the Western Pacific, the Regional Framework for Reaching the Unreached in the Western Pacific (2022-2030) and the Regional Action Framework for Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Control in the Western Pacific endorsed by the Regional Committee in 2022, WHO is working with countries to build health systems that promote equity and leave no one behind. The action plans and frameworks above advocate for health-enabling communities and societies, while also supporting individuals to maintain their health and well-being throughout the course of their lives.
This year, the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific will consider for endorsement action frameworks on digital health and health financing for social well-being and sustainable development.
WHO calls on countries to involve individuals and communities in health decision-making to ensure that health services are tailored to their changing needs throughout the life course. Reaching the unreached and upholding the right to health will require countries to harness innovative solutions, including digital health approaches, and work with stakeholders beyond the health sector to improve food systems, reduce air pollution, combat climate change, and build health-promoting environments, among other actions.