Universal healthcare a top priority for new WHO chief

Providing affordable healthcare to all people must become one of the world's top priorities in the coming years, newly elected World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.
"We have to agree that health is a rights issue and an end in itself," he told a press conference in Geneva, one day after WHO member states chose him to become the next director general in July.
Tedros, a former health and foreign minister of Ethiopia, pointed out that universal health coverage for all was a promise made when the WHO was established in 1948.
Currently, less than half of the world's population have access to universal health coverage, a concept that includes adequate health infrastructure and staff, as well as affordable services.
"It's the smartest thing to invest in," Tedros said.
Reacting to planned UN contribution cuts by the United States, Tedros said he wanted to get a broader number of countries to become donors, as a "shock absorber" against sudden shortfalls from one government.
Tedros said he would continue reforms by outgoing WHO chief Margaret Chan to make the WHO faster when it comes to reacting to outbreaks such as Ebola, but he added that countries will also have to do their part to prepare their health systems.
"An epidemic can strike anytime," he said.
In the election on Tuesday, Tedros beat UN health emergency expert David Nabarro of Britain and former Pakistani health minister Sania Nishtar to become the first WHO chief from Africa.