World Economic Forum (04.03.2019) An estimated 400 million people in the world lack access to basic health services, while millions are pushed into extreme poverty each year because of out-of-pocket healthcare costs. The burden of this lack of universal health coverage (UHC) is largely placed on Africa and Asia, where 97% of the population are impoverished by out-of-pocket health spending.

WHO (20.02.2019) Spending on health is growing faster than the rest of the global economy, accounting for 10% of global gross domestic product (GDP). A new report on global health expenditure from the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals a swift upward trajectory of global health spending, which is particularly noticeable in low- and middle-income countries where health spending is growing on average 6% annually compared with 4% in high-income countries.

Although health outcomes have improved in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the past several decades, a new reality is at hand. Changing health needs, growing public expectations, and ambitious new health goals are raising the bar for health systems to produce better health outcomes and greater social value. But staying on current trajectory will not suffice to meet these demands.

This document – Delivering quality health services: a global imperative for universal health coverage – describes the essential role of quality in the delivery of health care services. As nations commit to achieving universal health coverage by 2030, there is a growing acknowledgement that optimal health care cannot be delivered by simply ensuring coexistence of infrastructure, medical supplies and health care providers.

deloitte (March 2019) This 2019 outlook reviews the current state of the global health care sector and explores trends and issues impacting health care providers, governments, payers, patients, and other stakeholders. It also outlines suggestions for them as they seek to redefine the health care ecosystem and looks at examples from the market.

“Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017” is based on more data than ever before and includes 622 new data sources, for a total of 8,259 data sources. The 2017 study produced and used a new set of population estimates, which has led to substantial changes in mortality estimates in many countries. The analysis has been extended in time by two decades to start in 1950, and the statistical methods have been improved.

cbinsights.com (01.03.2019) Google is betting that the future of healthcare is going to be structured data and AI. The company is applying AI to disease detection, new data infrastructure, and potentially insurance. In this report we explore Google's many healthcare initiatives and areas of potential future expansion.

finchannel (20.03.2019) In 2017, total government expenditure in the European Union (EU) amounted to 45.8% of gross domestic product (GDP). This share has steadily decreased since 2012, when it stood at 48.9% of GDP.

As populations age over the next several decades, the demand for long-term care (LTC) services (assisting individuals with their activities of daily life) will increase dramatically and is likely to reach crisis levels in many countries. Societies will have to confront this emerging need because historical methods for providing and financing LTC may not be adequate to address future LTC needs.