WHO urges countries to build a fairer and healthier post-Covid-19 world

The COVVI-19 pandemic has unfairly struck some people more harsh than others, aggravating existing inequalities in health and well-being both in countries and from one country to another.On the occasion of World Health Day, on April 7, 2021, the World Health Organization launched a five -point call for urgent measures aimed at improving everyone's health.

In countries, cases of illness and death due to COVID-19 have been higher among the groups facing discrimination, poverty, social exclusion and daily living and working conditionsunfavorable - including humanitarian crises.It is estimated that the pandemic resulted between 119 and 124 million more people in extreme poverty last year.In addition, convincing elements of evidence show that the pandemic has widened gender differences in the field of employment, women being out of the active population in greater numbers than men in the past 12 months.

These inequalities under the living conditions of populations, health services and access to energy, money and resources are old.Result: the mortality rate of children under the age of five is twice as high in the poorest households as in the richest households.The life expectancy of people living in low -income countries is 16 years old than that of people living in high income countries.Thus, nine deaths by cervical cancer out of 10 in the world occur in low or intermediate income countries.

However, while countries continue to fight against the pandemic, a unique opportunity emerges from rebuilding better for a fairer and healthier world by implementing existing commitments, resolutions and agreements while also taking newbold commitments.

« La pandémie de COVID-19 a trouvé dans les inégalités de nos sociétés et les lacunes de nos systèmes de santé, un milieu propice à sa propagation»», déclare le D^r Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Directeur général de l’OMS."It is vital that all governments invest in the strengthening of their health services and that they eliminate the obstacles that prevent so many people from using them, so that a greater number of people have the chance to live a life ingood health.»»

The WHO therefore launches an appeal to action in five points:

Accelerate fair access to anti-COVVIV-19 technologies between countries and within them

Safe and effective vaccines have been developed and approved at record speed.The challenge now consists in ensuring that all those who need it can access it.Reinforced support for the COVAX mechanism, the ACT ACCEUNER VACCINE component, which hopes to have distributed vaccines in 100 countries with low or intermediate income in the coming days, will be essential in this regard.A new way of obtaining this support will go through a campaign aimed at allowing individuals and businesses around the world to help finance the vaccines that the world needs to combat the pandemic.This campaign, which begins on April 7, was launched by the WHO Foundation, supported by a range of partners in countries and worldwide, including Facebook and Global Citizen.

But the vaccines will not alone overcome the COVVI-19.Basic products such as medical oxygen and personal protective equipment (EPI), as well as reliable drugs and diagnostic tests are also essential;just as are solid mechanisms to distribute all these products fairly inside the national borders.The ACT accelerator aims to put tests and treatments available to hundreds of millions of people in low or intermediate income countries which, otherwise, would be deprived of it.But still 22.1 billion dollars in the United States is missing to provide these vital tools where they are so desperately lacking.

Invest in primary health care

At least half of the world's population still does not benefit from access to essential health services;More than 800 million people devote at least 10 % of their family income to health care and, each year, nearly 100 million people fall into poverty due to medical fees payable.

As countries are recovered from the COVVI-19 pandemic, it will be essential to avoid cuts in public spending devoted to health and other social sectors.Such cuts would be likely to increase the difficulties among the already disadvantaged groups, to weaken the effectiveness of the health system, to increase health risks, to increase budgetary pressure in the future and to underminedevelopment.

Governments should rather endeavor to achieve the objective recommended by the WHO to devote 1 % of GDP in addition to primary health care.It is proven that health health care health systems have constantly gave better health results, favored greater equity and improved efficiency.Intensify interventions relating to primary health care in low or intermediate income countries could save 60 million lives and increase the average life expectancy by 3.7 years by 2030.

Governments must also reduce the shortage of nursing staff worldwide, knowing that 18 million additional health workers are necessary to achieve universal health coverage (CSU) by 2030.This means that it is necessary to create at least 10 million additional full -time jobs in the world and strengthen efforts in terms of gender equality.Women provide most health care and social assistance in the world, representing up to 70 % of all health and personal assistance personnel, and yet they do not benefit from the same chances ofto manage.Among the main solutions are equal pay to reduce the remuneration gap between men and women and recognition of unpaid work of women in the field of health care.

Grant priority to health and social protection

In many countries, the socio-economic repercussions of COVID-19, due to the loss of jobs, the increase in poverty, disturbances in education and threats to nutrition, have exceeded theImpact of public health virus.Some countries have already implemented extended social protection programs to mitigate the negative effects of this greatest social precariousness and have started a dialogue on how to continue to support communities and populations in the future.But many of them have to find the resources necessary for concrete actions.It will be essential to ensure that these precious investments have above all an impact on those who need it most, and that disadvantaged communities participate in the planning and implementation of programs.

Building safe, healthy and exclusion districts

Cities' leaders have often been powerful health improvement champions, for example by improving transport systems and water supply and sanitation facilities.But too often, the lack of basic social services for certain communities imprison them in a spiral of illness and insecurity.Access to healthy housing, in safe neighborhoods, with adequate educational and recreational equipment, is essential to everyone's health.

At the same time, 80 % of the world's population living in extreme poverty lies in rural areas.Today, eight people out of 10 who do not have basic drinking water services live in rural areas, just like seven in 10 people who do not have basic sanitation services.It will be important to intensify efforts to provide rural communities with essential health and social services (including water and sanitation).These communities also need increased economic investments to be granted urgently in sustainable livelihoods and better access to digital technologies.

Strengthen data and health information systems

It is essential to increase the availability, in a timely, of high quality data that is ventilated according to sex, wealth, education, ethnicity, race, gender and placeof residence, to know where the inequalities are located and remedy it.Surveillance of health inequalities should be an integral part of all national health information systems.

A global assessment carried out recently by WHO shows that only 51 % of countries have included the ventilation of data in their national reports published on health statistics.The state of health of the various groups is often masked when national averages are used.In addition, it is frequently those who are vulnerable, poor or who undergo discrimination, which are most likely to be completely absent from the data.

« Le moment est maintenant venu d’investir dans la santé en tant que moteur du développement»», a déclaré le D^r Tedros."We do not have to choose between the improvement of public health, the construction of sustainable companies, the guarantee of food security and suitable nutrition, the fight against climate change or the prosperity of local economies.All these vital results go hand in hand.»»