Poor Health Care Quality Present In All Countries, Preventing Progress, Raising Costs, Report Says

U.N. News: Dangers of poor quality health care revealed ‘in all countries’: WHO report
“Ineffective health care is a global phenomenon which increases the burden of illness and wastes scarce resources, U.N. experts said on Thursday. In a new report on the subject, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners cited problems with delivering quality health care across all member states…” (7/5).

United Press International: WHO: Poor health care stymies progress, raises costs
“…Unnecessary treatment based on inadequate diagnoses or other errors and inadequate facilities and providers was present in all countries across the economic spectrum, the World Health Organization said in a release Thursday. … The report, ‘Delivering Quality Health Services — a Global Imperative for Universal Health Coverage,’ comes as all United Nations members have pledged to a goal of achieving universal health coverage by 2030. It is a joint report by the WHO, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development…” (Brokaw, 7/5).

Xinhua News: Poor quality services holding back progress on improving health: WHO report
“…In response, … [the three organizations said g]overnments should lead the way with strong national health care quality policies and strategies; citizens should be empowered and informed to actively engage in health care decisions and in designing new models of care to meet the needs of their local communities. Also health systems should focus on competent care and user experience to ensure confidence in the system, while health care workers should see patients as partners and commit themselves to providing and using data to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of health care” (7/6).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

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