Health should not be a privilege for the rich and gaps in public financing for health can be met by eliminating tax dodging and implementing progressive taxation, the UNAIDS said on Tuesday.
"The right to health is eluding the poor and people trying to lift themselves out of poverty are being crushed by the unacceptably high costs of health care.
"The richest 1 per cent benefit from cutting-edge science while the poor struggle to get even basic health care," said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, who is here to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual summit.
UNAIDS called on governments to ensure that the right to health is realized by all by prioritising public investments in health.
At least half of the world's population cannot access essential health services, it said.
"Every two minutes a woman dies while giving birth. Among the people being left behind are women, adolescents, people living with HIV, gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, transgender people, migrants, refugees and poor people," the agency said.
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Nearly 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty (defined as living on USD 1.90 or less a day) because they have to pay for health care, and more than 930 million people (around 12 per cent of the world's population) spend at least 10 per cent of their household budgets on health care.
In many countries, people are denied health care or receive poor quality health care because of unaffordable user fees.
Stigma and discrimination denies poor and vulnerable people, especially women, their right to health. Every week, 6,000 young women around the world become infected with HIV.
"Publicly financed health care is the greatest equalizer in society," said Byanyima. "When health spending is cut or inadequate, it is poor people and people on the margins of society, especially women and girls, who lose their right to health first, and they have to bear the burden of caring for their families."
"Big companies must pay their fair share of taxes, protect employee rights, provide equal pay for equal work and provide safe working conditions for all, especially women."