ODI [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.odi.org/media

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Press Releases
$74 billion to deliver universal healthcare as part of ‘social compact’ with world’s poor – new report
Press release – global
Embargoed until Monday 13 April 2015 00:01
Free basic universal healthcare would cost $74 billion a year to deliver in poor countries – equivalent to 0.15% of what the world’s richest countries spend on healthcare a year, according to a new report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).

In ‘Financing the Future’, researchers at ODI calculate that a ‘new social compact’ comprising universal health, free primary and secondary education, and income support to protect the poorest, will cost around $148 billion in low income countries. They argue the costs for this must be shared by rich and poor countries.

The report says that while there have been enormous strides in poverty reduction over the past two decades, progress will not be so easy in the coming years, as the poor are increasingly concentrated in conflict-prone states, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa….
… Among the report’s other key recommendations are:

– New global funds should be created or the mandates of existing organisations expanded to support the introduction of universal health coverage, income support and the provision of education in humanitarian emergencies.

– 50% of aid should be provided to least developed countries, over the long term, to ensure no one is left behind by progress.
– Development must be locally-led; therefore foreign aid must work to increase local capacities so that fragile states and other poor countries can use aid effectively…