Global Health in the Age of COVID-19: Responsive Health Systems Through a Right to Health Fund.
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: We propose that a Right to Health Capacity Fund (R2HCF) be created as a central institution of a reimagined global health architecture developed in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a fund would help ensure the strong health systems required to prevent disease outbreaks from becoming devastating global pandemics, while ensuring genuinely universal health coverage that would encompass even the most marginalized populations. The R2HCF's mission would be to promote inclusive participation, equality, and accountability for advancing the right to health. The fund would focus its resources on civil society organizations, supporting their advocacy and strengthening mechanisms for accountability and participation. We propose an initial annual target of US$500 million for the fund, adjusted based on needs assessments. Such a financing level would be both achievable and transformative, given the limited right to health funding presently and the demonstrated potential of right to health initiatives to strengthen health systems and meet the health needs of marginalized populations-and enable these populations to be treated with dignity. We call for a civil society-led multi-stakeholder process to further conceptualize, and then launch, an R2HCF, helping create a world where, whether during a health emergency or in ordinary times, no one is left behind.
Source: PubMed Central
Authors: Eric A Friedman, Lawrence O Gostin, Allan Maleche, Alessandra Nilo, Fogue Foguito, Umunyana Rugege, Sasha Stevenson, Githinji Gitahi, Ana Lorena Ruano, Michele Barry, Sara Hossain, Franciscka Lucien, Itai Rusike, Martin Hevia, Ala Alwan, Edwin Cameron, Paul Farmer, Walter Flores, Adila Hassim, Rosemary Mburu, Joia Mukherjee, Moses Mulumba, Dainius Pūras, Mirta Roses Periago
Institutions: Georgetown University, Gestos, Section27, Amref Health Africa, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for the Study of Equity and Governance in Health Systems, University of Bergen, Stanford University, Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, University of Washington, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Partners In Health, Harvard University, Center for Health, Human Rights and Development, Vilnius University
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3041720069