News
European charter for healthcare services
3 July 2008
Ministers of health from the 53 countries of the World Health
Organization European Region, have signed a new charter on health
systems, committing themselves to strengthening health systems that will
allow both their own people and the international community to hold them
to account.
Observing that all countries have pockets of people who miss out on
quality healthcare, the charter stresses that strong healthcare systems
must be put in place to remove barriers, such as insufficient access,
costs and lack of information, to ensure coverage across the board.
The charter details key actions needed to make health systems
stronger, such as improving transparency and accountability for health
spending and ensuring that spending is aligned to policy objectives.
The charter declares: "Today, it is unacceptable that people become
poor as a result of ill-health. We, the Member States, commit ourselves
to promote shared values of solidarity, equity and participation through
health policies and resource allocation, and to ensure attention is paid
to the needs of the poor and other vulnerable groups."
WHO estimates that, each year, health costs cause 150 million people
to suffer financial catastrophe and push 100 million below the poverty
line.
Dr Marc Danzon, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said: "Health is
the right of everyone and it has value in itself. It is in the interest
of all governments to invest into the health of their populations, as
improving the health of the population makes a material contribution to
the wealth of the nation."
"I am personally thrilled by the value system so clearly evident in
the Tallinn charter," said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan. "As we
now know, cash, commitment and commodities cannot boost adequate
progress in the absence of delivery systems that reach those in great
need, on and adequate scale, in time," she said.
"Increasing investment in health will pay dividends only if it's well
spent," said Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Deputy Regional Director for Europe.
"There is no 'right' or 'optimal' size of the budget that should be
devoted to health. We do not want to give the impression that simply
increasing the level of budget allocations to the health sector will
solve all problems. The health system needs to increase and demonstrate
its capacity to use the money in a prudent and transparent manner."
As part of the preparation for the charter, WHO conducted studies
that have produced evidence of the link between health and wealth of the
population to make the case for giving serious political attention to
the performance of health systems (see: www.euro.who.int/healthsystems/Conference/Documents/20080620_34
)
WHO's research shows that in the past the importance of the health
system to the general health of the population has been underestimated,
as has been the impact of better health on economic growth. Rather than
being seen as a 'necessary burden', investment in effective health
systems should be considered as an investment in the future well-being
of the population.
The Charter was signed at a conference of European health ministers
held in Tallinn, Estonia. Speakers at the Conference stressed that good
health systems should not be a luxury that only rich countries can
afford, but a fundamental part of the social and physical infrastructure
that supports a country's prosperity, cohesion, and social well-being,
underlining that the charter places particular emphasis on ensuring
people are treated with dignity and respect when they come in contact
with their health system.
Signing the Tallinn charter on behalf of all European ministers were
Dr Maret Maripuu, Minister of Social Affairs of Estonia and Chair of the
Conference; and Dr Marc Danzon, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
The final text of the Charter will be published on the WHO European
website at www.euro.who.int
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