Achieving target of universal health coverage highlighted

Health experts and economists Thursday made several recommendations to achieve the target of universal health coverage (UHC) including increase in the government health expenditure and extending specialised healthcare system to deprived communities and locations.  
While addressing the inaugural session of a three-day conference, they also warned the developing countries about the challenge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which will rise to 43 per cent from present 27 per cent by 2020.
The conference on 'Realising UHC Goals: Bangladesh Realities and Way Forward - A policy and solution conference' began at a city hotel. Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the World Bank has organised the conference.
State Minister for Finance MA Mannan attended the function as the chief guest. Thai Deputy Minister of Public Health Dr Somasak Chunaharas, World Federation of Association of Paediatric Surgeons Dr DK Gupta and PPRC Chairman Hossain Zillur Rahman presented keynote papers at the session.    
In his presentation, Hossain Zillur showed that per capita health expenditure in Thailand was US$ 214 in 2011-12 and government's share was 77.7 per cent, in India the amount was US$ 62 of which government's share was 30.5 per cent, in Sri Lanka it was US$ 93 and the government's share was 42.1 per cent, in Brazil US$ 1,119 and the government's share 45.7 per cent and in Bangladesh US$ 16.2 and the government's share was 26 per cent. But the total health expenditure was 4.1 per cent of GDP of Thailand, 3.9 per cent of India, 8.9 per cent of Brazil, 3.3 per cent of Sri Lanka and 3.4 per cent of Bangladesh.
He stressed on six key issues for consideration. These are mainstreaming outreach programmes to extend special care to deprived locality and communities, scaling-up of quality-controlled short-term skill training for priority skills, second generation health information strategy for focused on disease-specific healthcare awareness, undertaking GO-NGO-community partnership to promote school health focused on healthcare and healthy lifestyle awareness, integrating healthcare for urban poor into the public healthcare system and prioritising birth defect correction as the preventive disability strategy.  
Mr Zillur presented various findings in health sector which included low utilisation of public health infrastructure, regulatory reversals in drug policy, extremely unfavourable skill mix, stigma burden on allied professions, a problem of rural retention, misgovernance nexus and advocacy weakness in health budget.
Referring to the findings after field level research, he said irrational healthcare logistic procurement is another problem.
Dr Gupta showed global chronic disease burden from 1990-2020 (by disease group in developing countries). The share of NCDs will be 43 per cent from 27 per cent in 1990, neuropsychiatric disorders will rise to 14 per cent from 9.0 per cent, injuries will rise to 21 per cent from 15 per cent and communicable diseases will come down to 22 per cent from 49 per cent in 1990.
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