What does it mean to achieve universal health coverage (UHC)? It means resilient, equitable health systems with robust financing structures. It means people need to pay out-of-pocket for fewer health services, so the poorest are able to access more of the services they need, and even the wealthy, who may experience financial hardship in the event of severe or long-term illness, also no longer have that worry.
Why is it important to assess the impact of polio eradication now? Well, one in ten children receive no vaccines at all. None. They are left vulnerable to preventable diseases like measles, pneumonia, and polio. On Monday, RESULTS UK and RESULTS Australia launched a joint publication, A Balancing Act: Risks and opportunities as polio and its funding disappears, to look at what happens when international financing for polio changes and declines.
Following successful pledging at the Rotary International Convention in June and ever diminishing cases of the disease worldwide, World Polio Day 2017, October 24, marked the remarkable progress the world has made since the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, when more than 350,000 people suffered from the disease.
A new report by the ACTION indicates that at least 24 countries are likely to experience transition to reduced support from two or more multilateral health financing agencies within the next five years because they have just recently passed the threshold for moving between low-income and lower-middle income status. This process known as "simultaneous transition" poses a significant risk to sustaining improvements in health services. The ACTION report recommends possible solutions to this looming challenge.
Although good health is the foundation for individuals, communities, and countries to thrive, a 2015 study by the World Health Organization and the World Bank estimated that 400 million people worldwide lack access to at least one of seven essential health services, ranging from pregnancy care to clean water. Despite much progress under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), from 2000 to 2015, much more needs to be done to give all people equal access to health. ACTION’s policy paper, Progress in Peril? The Changing Landscape of Global Health Financing examines the global health landscape in the face of imminent shifts in where and how global health funding is available to support low- and middle-income countries.
ACTION’s new Polio Accountability Tool tells the unique history of polio eradication and tracks the government dollars that make eradication a likelihood. Use this tool to track your government’s participation in this effort and help ensure that future generations are completely free from polio.
Nigeria has a population of nearly 192 million people and expects to add another 7.3 million newborns to its population. The country’s under-five mortality rate has been falling steadily since the early 1990s and has halved since the 1980s. Between 2001 and 2016, Nigeria received US $698 million in Gavi funding, which has supported supplementary activities for immunization against typical childhood diseases. Nigeria will need healthy citizens to help it on its development pathway, and these children, who have been given such a strong start in life, are sure to be driving the country’s future progress.
Every year, up to three million children’s lives are saved because of vaccines. Diseases such as tetanus and diphtheria, previously major killers of children are on the decline because of increased access to immunization for children all over the globe. The efforts made to date to roll out immunization services to children around the world are laudable. But, progress doesn’t equal a job completed. We need to push harder and further to reach those children that have been left behind. Everyone has a role to play in ensuring that children don’t die from vaccine-preventable diseases.