World | World Health Organization 1B Can't Afford Health Care: WHO Health costs push 100M into poverty yearly By Matt Cantor Posted Nov 22, 2010 10:19 AM CST Copied The General Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Chan, introduces the world health report in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Nov. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) A billion people worldwide can’t afford health care, and paying for it drives 100 million people into poverty annually, a World Health Organization report says. The global report says all countries should seek creative ways to boost health-care efficiency and funding, Reuters reports. “For many, health services just don't exist,” says a WHO official. “As the world grapples with economic slowdown, globalization of disease, and growing demands for chronic care, the need for universal health coverage, and a strategy for financing it, has never been greater,” said the organization’s director. The World Health Report 2010 found that some 20%-40% of health spending is generally wasted on things like costly, unnecessary drugs and hospital inefficiencies; 5% could be saved through more efficient use of medicines. Read These Next 11 people hurt in a "brutal act of violence" in Michigan. A parent's nightmare, in a white cardboard box. We knew Letterman would pipe up about Colbert eventually. A new book argues the Sacagawea legend is all wrong. Report an error