Topic:
Country: France
Delegate Name: Julia Callahan
World Health Organization (WHO)
Expanding Access to Medical Resources
France
Julia Callahan
East Grand Rapids
Medical care is a monopoly that discriminates against people in poverty and poor health. In recent reports from the World Bank and WHO, barely one-half of the world’s population are capable of procuring vital health services. Between 2000 and 2018, global resource spending was 10% of the world’s GDP, or US$ 8.3 trillion. 40% of healthcare costs in 2018 were paid out of pocket in low-income countries, which pushes more and more menages into poverty, creating an escapable cycle of deficit and disease. WHO accounted that 800 million people end up spending 10% of their budgets on health resources. Access to Medical Resources is uneven worldwide, affecting countries in different ways and levels. As necessary resources are provided, there is increased spending for individuals to get said resources. This problem is especially prevalent in Eastern Asia, Latin America, and European regions, while the opposite situation occurs in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, providing no access to resources. Overall, the standing issue is that providing health resources is necessary, but doing so can create impoverishment when it comes to out-of-pocket payments. Though not providing proper health resources is jeopardizing the population’s well-being.
France has a profound history of access to medical resources, achieving universal healthcare through strategic planning when accounting for varying populations. Mutual Benefit Association (MBA) already provided health care before WWII, influenced by the 1930 Act of Social Insurance requiring employees to have health coverage for illness, maternity, aging, and death. Two-thirds of France’s people had coverage for disease in 1939, thanks to the MBA. When WWII ended, France took the opportunity to renovate access to health resources, creating a new procedure for healthcare financing. Social Security Insurance expanded the coverage to first workers, employees, and retirees in 1945, self-employed in 1966, and unemployed in 2000. Social Security Insurance was made universal in 2016, incorporating immigrants merging state-sponsored health care and Universal Health Coverage.
The Director-General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed that having a problem regarding health resources is futile. Ghebreyesus states that the solution is universal health coverage which provides the necessary resources for health without financial strain. World Bank Group President Dr. Jim Yong Kim says that the problem is that countries are hesitant to invest in people and their well-being. Increasing spending agendas guided toward people will help progress toward UHC.
France believes the only way to expand access to medical resources is by incorporating universal health coverage globally. UHC promotes a people-focused strategy that eliminates the lack of resources and financial struggle. This solution is a community-based approach that focuses on providing for the greater good.
