Dive Brief:
- A coalition of 267 renowned economists from 44 countries is calling on world leaders to prioritize efforts toward universal health coverage.
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The Economists' Declaration on Universal Health Coverage, which was was spearheaded by The Rockefeller Foundation, was published last week in The Lancet.
- The group notes more than 100 countries at all different levels of development have begun working to implement universal health coverage, further demonstrating its feasibility.
Dive Insight:
The declaration claims the case for universal health coverage (UHC) is growing stronger and the world is at a juncture where UHC is feasible to countries at any stage of development due to economic growth, donor country commitments and new mechanisms to raise local funds. It asserts all countries should prioritize reforms and investments toward that goal.
The coalition pulls some weight given its signatories include five Nobel laureates and the current and former chief economists of the World Bank, as well as other noted health economists and thinkers.
"Universal health coverage isn't only the right thing to do – it's also the economically smart thing to do," said coalition leader Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus at Harvard University. "The data clearly show that health is essential to eradicating extreme poverty and promoting economic growth. I launched this Declaration to urge world leaders to act on that evidence," he says.