WHO Warns Against Cutting Public Health Spending In Response To Economic Crisis

The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned that some countries might choose to cut public health spending as Europe enters an economic recession and urges governments to instead invest in health and social protection, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri P. Kluge said Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2020) The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned that some countries might choose to cut public health spending as Europe enters an economic recession and urges governments to instead invest in health and social protection, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri P. Kluge said Thursday.

According to the European Union's Spring 2020 Economic Forecast published earlier in May, the EU economy is forecast to contract by 7.5 percent in 2020 and grow by only around 6 percent in 2021.

"At WHO we are concerned that countries will respond to this crisis in the same way they did to the recession 10 years ago. Many countries in Europe responded to that crisis by cutting public spending on health," Kluge told a virtual briefing.

According to the official, public spending on health per person fell in around half of the European region's countries between 2008 and 2013.

"Those cuts prevented many people from accessing the health care they needed.

Unmet need for health care increased in 19 out of 28 EU countries, affecting 3 million more people in 2013 than in 2008. Furthermore, up to 9 percent of households were pushed into poverty as a result of having to pay out-of-pocket for health care," he said.

The official noted that countries that opted for cuts struggled to recover from the economic shock, and urged countries to this time "learn from the mistakes of the past."

"Today, our priority must be to invest in health, invest in social protection and, above all, avoid austerity, which has devastated the lives of so many in Europe. Investing in health and social protection - especially when the economy is unstable - is the mark of responsible policy action," Kluge stressed.

According to WHO, over 2 million COVID-19 cases have been registered in Europe since the start of the pandemic, including almost 11,500 deaths.