New York: Pressing for an overhaul of the way health assistance is provided worldwide, a United Nations report said personal expenditure on healthcare at a time of global financial crisis is pushing more than 100 million people below the poverty line each year.

The annual World Health Report released by the World Health Organization (WHO), found that the inequalities in healthcare in the world are now much greater than they were 30 years ago and that too often it is treated as a commodity on which a profit can be made.

For 5.6 billion people in low and middle-income countries, more than half of all health care expenditure is through out of pocket payments and at a time of global financial crisis, such personal expenditure pushes more than 100 million people below the poverty line each year, the UN agency said.

It recommends a return to so-called "primary health care," a more holistic approach developed in the 1970s where general practitioners, family doctors or nurses performed tasks that these days are frequently carried out by specialists.

"In far too many cases, people who are well-off and generally healthier have the best access to the best care, while the poor are left to fend for themselves," WHO said.

"Health care is often delivered according to a model that concentrates on diseases, high technology and specialist care, with health viewed as a product of biomedical interventions and the power of prevention largely ignored," it said.
Source : PTI