World Health Day 2021

"Building a fairer, healthier world"

Tue, 2021 / 04 / 13

With this motto the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrated this year's World Health Day. Since its founding in 1948, the WHO has put a health-related issue of global relevance in the public spotlight every year on April 07. This year, the day was particularly impacted by the global Corona pandemic and the question, "How can health care become more equitable worldwide?"

Never has a health issue dominated politics, media, business, and even private conversations as much as corona. The pandemic has hit all countries of the world hard and revealed a fact that has already caused concern before: Health depends strongly on social factors worldwide, also in Germany. The German Foundation for World Population (DSW) points out that "global health crises exacerbate existing health, social and gender-based inequalities." Therefore, area-wide and functioning health care is all the more important for the prevention and containment of pandemics. Berlin-based physiologist Axel Radlach Pries, president of the World Health Summit, says that "in the face of global threats, we are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain" and sees the key to improving global health in better international cooperation in medicine and research.

Although healthcare spending in Germany in 2020 was 425.1 billion euros (as of April 6, 2021), according to the Federal Statistical Office, and thus increased by 3.5% over the previous year, there are also numerous challenges in Germany regarding equitable health care. In a 2019 report, the Robert Koch Institute found that 13 percent of women and 27 percent of men from low-income groups die before reaching the age of 65, whereas in higher income groups only 8 percent of women and 14 percent of men die prematurely. The Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) points out in March 2021 that socially disadvantaged population groups get in contact with the coronavirus comparatively more frequently and more often show a severe course of the disease. These population groups suffer more from corona protection measures with far-reaching consequences for their health. The federal government's recent 6th Poverty and Wealth Report from earlier this year indicates that the corona pandemic would further exacerbate poverty and social inequality.

To reduce these health divergences and build a strong public health system, the Future Public Health Forum published a paper on this in March 2021. At SKC, we too will like to continue to facilitate market access of our clients' medicines through our expertise and future-based work to support the global goal of equitable healthcare for all people.

Sources:

The statement from the German Ärzteblatt on World Health Day is linked here.
For more information on the World Health Organization, please visit the World Health Day homepage.