Rality Check: Global Health Challenges

Thought-provoking...

g

-------

Lets admit it, we have a serious global health problem

Written by Margaret Chan

Margaret Chan October 24, 2008: Under the influence of globalisation, the landscape of public health has changed in profound and almost universal ways. Differences between rich and poor countries are no longer so clear. More developing countries now have pockets of wealth that attract the lion’s share of spending on health. More wealthy countries have growing urban slums and shanty-towns that drain health resources and strain the social welfare systems. There is something wrong. Gaps in health outcomes are not matters of fate. They are markers of policy failure. As I have mentioned, globalisation has its bright and its dark sides. But here is the problem: globalisation has no rules that guarantee the fair or balanced distribution of benefits. I believe that our world is out of balance in matters of health as never before. This should not be the case. Health is the very foundation of economic productivity and prosperity. Balanced health status within a population contributes to social cohesion and stability. Social justice A world that is greatly out of balance in matters of health is neither stable nor secure. This world will not become a fair place for health all by itself. Health systems will not automatically gravitate towards greater fairness and efficiency. Nor will globalisation self regulate in ways that favour fairness in the distribution of benefits. Deliberate policy decisions are needed in all these areas. I believe there is no sector better placed than health to insist on equity and social justice. No one should be denied access to life-saving or health-promoting interventions for unfair reasons. Equity in access to health care comes to the fore as a way of holding globalisation accountable. The policies governing the international systems that link us all so closely together need to have more foresight. They need to look beyond financial gains, benefits for trade, and economic growth for its own sake. They need to be put to the true test. What impact do they have on poverty, misery, and ill health – in other words, the progress of a civilized world? Do they contribute to greater fairness in the distribution of benefits? Or are they leaving this world more and more out of balance? If history repeats itself, cant we learn from the past and avoid repeating mistakes? There is too much at stake in our turbulent world to make the same mistakes yet again. Chan is the director-general of WHO.