WHO urges “coverage for all, not coverage of everything”

Governments must ensure that good health care is accessible to everyone, but they should not attempt to provide all possible treatments, according to the World Health Organisation's annual report. The report was launched this week as the UN agency's member states gather for their annual assembly on 17 May.

The report suggests that governments must provide cost effective services to prevent and treat their nation's most pressing health problems, and so reduce the disproportionate burden of disease on the poor and help economic growth. But it marks a significant shift in the WHO's stance from …