Baroness Scotland calls for innovative finance mechanisms to close fiscal space on health in national economies.
The Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, has delivered a powerful speech on the need for cooperative health financing to see the realisation of universal health coverage (UHC) goals in developing nations.
The Secretary-General made her contribution remotely at a G20 Partnership roundtable on sustainable health financing on Tuesday, held on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Spring Meetings in Washington.
The discussion will support the development of a new toolkit report, launching on 21 June 2023 at the World Health Organization, on health metrics and sustainable finance mechanisms.
Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and universal health coverage targets has stalled in many developing nations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current global downturn.
According to the World Bank, in 2030 there will be a 176 billion US dollar annual gap in health care budgets for the world’s 54 poorest countries, translating into a shortfall in the funding needed to provide populations with quality, affordable services. Recovery for many countries is likely to be slow.
‘Urgent’ joint-efforts needed to close health finance gap
During the roundtable meeting, the Secretary-General said:
“The World Bank has made it clear that the majority of developing countries will fail to achieve their targets for universal health coverage, and the health-and poverty-related SDGs, unless urgent steps are taken to strengthen their health financing.
“So we must work together, with urgency, and with sustained commitment, to get progress towards universal health coverage and the SDGs back on track.”
She added: “The health and economic challenges we have faced together in recent years, and the long-term structural global economic problems they have exposed, have put our health gains in jeopardy and our systems under strain.”
Image
Impact of Covid-19 on global health systems
The Secretary-General also issued a rallying call. She said:
“The pandemic demonstrated that no one is safe until everyone is safe.”
Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many nations were off track on the SDGs – and as a result, some universal health coverage targets. These targets are designed to improve standards of care, tackle increasing instances of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and help strengthen health systems to withstand future shocks like pandemics.
COVID-19, along with current rising costs and the economic downturn, has led to rising public debt and debt servicing costs, particularly in the poorest countries, causing a crippling effect on budgets.
According to the IMF, of the 69 countries applying the low-income countries debt sustainability analysis in 2019, half were either already “in debt distress” or “at high risk of debt distress”, compared to 23% in 2013. Pressure on budgets has stalled work to make healthcare systems more resilient and limited investment in reforms designed to eradicate NCDs and improve standards of living.
These pressures are further amplified by the fact that climate crises can lead to a health crisis. The World Health Organisation predicts that between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year. These deaths are due to conditions like malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress.
Commonwealth work on universal health care and equitable finance
Commonwealth Health Ministers, and the Commonwealth Secretariat, have made tackling the financing gap a priority. At the last meeting of the Health Ministers in May 2022, Ministers called for increased investment in health, including human resourcing, to strengthen the resilience of their health systems.
They will meet again in May 2023 for the 35th Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting under the theme: “Getting UHC in the Commonwealth on Track by 2030”.
In order to strengthen their access to investment, the Commonwealth Secretary-General will be working with Commonwealth Finance Ministers and officials at the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings. There, she will call for reform of the global financial architecture to help developing countries have more equitable access to finance and support.
Learn more about our health work
Media contact
- Amy Coles Communications Officer, Communications Division, Commonwealth Secretariat
