A new investment platform by WHO offers hope for universal health coverage in the global south

Three of the best multilateral development banks in the world have come together under the leadership of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to launch an investment platform for healthcare services in low and middle-income countries. The system aims to make universal health coverage a reality everywhere in the world.

This comes at a time when the World Health Organisation called for better morphine distribution in the world as those who are in medical need of it are left high and dry.

Strengthening Primary Health Care (PHC)

This landmark decision is part of the World Health Organisation's effort in strengthening the healthcare services of countries especially to create a climate and crisis-resilient primary healthcare or PHC services in these countries. Low-income countries or LICs and low-and-middle-income countries or LMICs are often at the receiving end of pandemics and epidemics because of a lack of resources.

The new Impact Investment Platform will start with an initial €1.5 billion investment by the African Development Bank (AfDB), European Investment Bank (EIB) and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The system launched in Paris last month during the New Global Financing Pact Summit hopes that this grant will be used to expand the PHC services in these countries to their full potential. The aim here is to make healthcare facilities available to the underserved, neglected and vulnerable populations and communities.

So far WHO, the European Investment Bank, the African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank are founding members of this new initiative but others like the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) are likely to join this global venture. IDB's plan of extending its services to the Caribbean and Latin American countries will get a boost if they join this partnership.

How will the new platform work?

As per the WHO press release, the organisation will serve as the policy coordinator of the platform, facilitating all financial decisions and making sure that they align with the national health strategies of the respective countries involved.

The investing platform will have a secretariat that will initiate the process with the respective governments of the countries involved and together they will prioritise PHC investment plans in line with the national health strategies.

They will also act as a catalyst to bring more widespread PHC investments to government health strategies.

PHC investment to prevent diseases

Speaking about the matter, the Director General of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that Primary Health Care is the most effective way of enhancing the health and well-being of the people including essential services. He further underlined how this facilitates universal health coverage, a Sustainable Development Goal taken by the UN and which the world leaders committed to achieving by 2030.

The 2030 Sustainable Development Goal of achieving universal health coverage for all, which world leaders agreed to work on in 2015, has essential services like vaccines and medicines listed. This investment platform is a step towards achieving that goal.

Dr Tedros called the PHC ''the eyes and the ears" of a country's healthcare system as it can reach the communities where people live. Most diseases could be prevented and delayed by primary health care as 90 per cent of essential health services come under its purview. In such a scenario, the Health Impact Investment Platform will help in developing these services which is an invaluable asset for the future health of any country and its population.

Creating pandemic shock proof economies

Speaking on the matter, EIB President Werner Hoyer reiterated their commitment to healthcare stating that they are here to strengthen PHC and protect people from future healthcare emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Hoyer said that the pandemic revealed the extent of economic suffering that can happen when essential health services fail and the new Health Impact Investment Platform will try to eradicate that. The platform aims to build resilient PHCs in countries so that a shockproof future is created. This will protect the economy from future health crisis shocks. Hoyer further added how this fulfils the French President's call to increase international efforts in financial solidarity in the global south.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation set up a global pathogen surveillance network to make healthcare systems around the world more pandemic ready. This investment platform will add to that effort of preventing diseases.

Mobilising funds across countries

Earlier, before the pandemic WHO had said $371 billion is needed annually to empower the health system in low and low-and-middle-income countries in order to reach the health related 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals. This is needed to build the system, train people for the system, make it accessible to the people and place healthcare workers where it's essential.

Another $ 31.1 billion is needed to make the future of these countries pandemic ready. One-third of this has to be generated from international financing and the new investment platform will help in mobilising funds across national PHC investment plans.

How will it help?

This system draws experience from the cooperation between various organisations, development banks and governments of different countries like EIB and the European Commission's work in strengthening the healthcare system in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Angola.

The three countries benefited when grants, investments and technical assistance were mobilised between the stand-alone programs in their respective countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.