Universal health coverage a great leveller: WHO chief

Singapore

UNIVERSAL health coverage was on Tuesday described as one of the most powerful social equalisers among policy options open to governments, and the "ultimate expression of fairness".

This assessment came from Dr Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), in her address to some 300 international delegates gathered for the two-day Ministerial Meeting on Universal Health Coverage at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront hotel.

She said inequalities in income levels, opportunities and access to social services within and between countries had reached their highest levels seen in nearly a century, and added: "If public health has something that can help our very out-of-balanced, troubled world, it is this: growing evidence that well-functioning and inclusive health systems contribut…