COVID healthcare costs ‘catastrophic’ for poorest

ABSTRACT

Speed read Health care costs push more than half a billion people into extreme poverty COVID-19 adds to the burden, halting progress towards universal health coverage Health policies must protect poor from financial hardship, say World Bank, WHO Two decades of progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is likely to be halted by COVID-19, as “catastrophic” health care bills force increasing numbers of people into extreme poverty, UN institutions have warned. Ajay Tandon, lead economist, World Bank Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for the bulk of the populations incurring “catastrophic” health spending, which according to the report includes households that spend more than 10 per cent of their income on health. [...]the poorest groups and those living in rural areas are the least able to obtain health services and the least likely to be able to cope with the consequences for paying for them,” they added.