The World Health Organisation (WHO) unveiled its World Health Report 2013 thursday and called on countries to continue investing in local research as its the key for developing a system of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) tailored to each individual country’s situation.
Dr Margaret Chan, director general of WHO, described the universal coverage as “the single most powerful concept that public health has to offer.”
The report shows how countries, when developing a system for universal health coverage, can use research to determine what health issues should be addressed, how a system should be structured and how to measure progress according to their specific health situation.
It also reveals that, on average, domestic investment in research in low- and middle-income countries has been growing by at least 5% each year. This trend is most visible in emerging economies such as Brazil, China and India.
Case studies from many countries demonstrate the importance of local and global research for improving health, ranging from the prevention and control of specific diseases to the better functioning of health systems.
Bangladesh in this regard is lagging behind, mainly because of lack of fund. Prof Dr Rashide Mahbub, president of Health Rights Movement of Bangladesh, told the Dhaka Tribune: “In reality we do not have any budget for research to improve the health system. But, there are some research work driven by the donor’s and hospital based clinical data research in our country. But they are not enough to ensure universal health coverage.
She said, if we want to bring everyone under the health coverage the government should increase the health budget and trace out the diseases and find out cost effective treatments.
