Excellencies,
When countries and partners invest in universal health coverage (UHC), they invest in the most efficient way to create healthier, more health-secure countries, and a healthier, more health-secure world.
For every dollar invested in UHC, the return is delivered many times over – first, due to increases in overall population health and well-being and the productivity, jobs and poverty reduction they promote; and second, because when the quality and reach of health services improves, health systems become more resilient and can better mitigate or manage acute threats while maintaining essential health services.
It is for this reason that since 2014 achieving UHC and scaling up emergency risk management have been among the WHO South-East Asia Region’s eight Flagship Priorities.
After more than nine months of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the evidence is clear.
Across the South-East Asia Region, across Asia and across the world, countries that have made sustained, long-term investments in UHC have health systems that are more resilient, and which have more effectively controlled the spread of the virus, maintained essential health services, and mitigated economic shock.
The experiences Excellencies shared at Monday’s health ministers’ meeting bear this out.
In countries with access to free testing and care – like Bhutan, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia – people have sought timely diagnosis and treatment, which has minimized spread, maximized information and surveillance, and ensured all people get the care they need.
Consider that Bhutan, which is constitutionally committed to achieving UHC, has reported zero COVID-19 deaths, and has one of the world’s highest testing rates, at more than 150 000 tests per million people.
Countries with strong primary health care that is supported by adequate human resources have been able to efficiently repurpose health workers to respond to the pandemic while also maintaining essential health services.
Just this morning, Her Excellency, the Hon’ble Minister for Health of Sri Lanka, shared that Sri Lanka has till now reported just 13 deaths, none of them health workers.
Sri Lanka has one of the highest densities of health workers in Asia, at 31.8 doctors, nurses and midwives per 10 000 population.
Countries that have made progress towards UHC have logistics and supply chains that are more secure, efficient and transparent, and can rapidly meet surge needs.
They can also more rapidly adapt and roll-out key innovations, which is reflected in the massive expansion of telemedicine across several countries.
Crucially, countries that are committed to UHC have successfully mobilized the whole-of-government, whole-of-society buy-in required to effectively respond to the pandemic.
Thailand, which invests 15% of public expenditure in health, has for many years promoted public ownership of health through its National Health Assembly and via high-impact public health communication.
When countries invest in UHC, they invest in the firmest foundation for a healthier, more health-secure world.
But they also invest in the resilience of their economy and the sustainable and equitable development it brings.
On Monday, the WHO-supported Global Preparedness Monitoring Board released its ground-breaking report “A World in Disorder”.
The Board estimates that it would take 500 years to spend as much on preparedness as the world is currently losing due to the impact of COVID-19.
Today, tomorrow and for many months and even years, countries will face immense fiscal pressures that provide hard choices and difficult trade-offs.
The latest projections from global financial institutions suggest that in 2020 most countries in Asia Pacific face a decrease in GDP, which could exceed 10%.
Thus, even if the slice of government expenditure that health spending accounts for remains the same, the pie itself may be smaller – and that will have a real impact on lives and livelihoods.
This is why not only sustaining, but also scaling up smart, efficient investments in UHC is so important – because they will pay for themselves and deliver many, many times over.
I leave you with three key messages on how countries and partners can take immediate fiscal action to strengthen the COVID-19 response and build health system resilience into the recovery and beyond.
First, prioritizing health in government budgets – not only in the short-term, so that the COVID-19 response is strengthened, but also over the medium-term, so that UHC is advanced and health systems become more resilient and are better prepared for acute events.
Second, improving value for money in health, for example by investing in primary health care and pro-poor initiatives that protect and promote the health of vulnerable groups, ensuring we leave no one behind.
And third, mobilizing domestic revenues for health via pro-health taxes, for example on tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages, as shared by Philippines. Such levies will not only generate additional resources for health, but also produce healthier, happier populations.
UHC is an investment. It is not a cost. We must make the case as if lives depend on it – because they do.
Thank you.