Universal Healthcare Could be a Powerful Tool to Fight Inequality: WHO

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Chan, described universal healthcare as a powerful tool to fight inequality. Speaking at the ministerial meeting on universal healthcare conducted in Singapore, the WHO chief lauded Singapore's recently launched universal health insurance scheme, which provides nearly $3.0 billion in subsidies to help the lower-income and elderly people.

According to the WHO, a lack of universal healthcare pushes 100 million people every year below the poverty line as a result of paying for the services they need, while countries like the United States and China grapple with how to provide coverage to all their citizens. WHO director general Margaret Chan said, "Universal health coverage is one of the most powerful social equalizers among all policy options. It is the ultimate expression of fairness. Health systems will not automatically gravitate towards greater equity or naturally evolve towards universal coverage. All of these outcomes require deliberate policy decisions."