The Director General, World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says more than half of the world’s population lack access to essential health services while almost 100 million people are pushed to poverty by the costs of paying for care out of their own pockets.
He said this in his opening speech at the on-going 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018), holding in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
According to WHO Director General, “more than half of the world’s population lack access to essential health services including vaccination, treatment for HIV, hepatitis and TB, family planning services, and the ability to see a health worker.”
Acknowledging the contributions and progress made by WHO since the turn of the century, Dr. Ghebreyesus said, “Together, we have turned the tide on HIV. We have transformed a death sentence into a treatable disease. Millions of people are on treatment. Even better, millions of people are NOT on treatment because we have given them tools to protect themselves.
“We have accelerated research and development. We have pushed back the boundaries of science and are now in hot pursuit of a cure. We’ve championed the rights of the most marginalised and vulnerable. But we’re not done. The gains we have made are under threat, with signs of wavering political commitment and declining funding.”
He opined that no one should get sick and die just because they are poor or marginalised.
WHO Director General disclosed that in May this year, the World Health Assembly had approved a new 5- year strategy for WHO, to support countries on their journey towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
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Elaborating more on the new strategy, he said: “At its heart are what we call the “tripple billion” targets for 2023: 1 billion more people benefiting from universal health coverage, 1 billion more people better protected from health emergencies; and 1 billion more people enjoying better health and well-being.
According to him, WHO was transforming into an organisation capable of delivering on the targets where it mattered most – not in Geneva, but on the ground, in countries.
He said that the increasing focus on universal health coverage should not be seen as a threat to disease-specific programmes such as HIV, but rather as an opportunity to accelerate efforts to eliminate AIDS and amplify the impact of investments in HIV, stressing, “universal health coverage means ALL people have access to ALL the service they need, for ALL diseases and conditions.”
Director Ghebreyesus called on participants at the Conference to harness their energies, passion and resources to achieve universal health coverage, insisting, “that’s how we will defeat AIDS and build a healthier, safer, fairer world for everyone, everywhere.”
AIDS 2018 aims to reinvigorate the fight against HIV/AIDS.
According to statistics, 1.8 million people continue to be newly infected with HIV/AIDS yearly while close to one million people still die from the disease.
The Conference comes to an end on July 27.
