Salome Zourabichvili: Health care is the government's political choice

Health care is the government's political choice and it is necessary to strengthen primary health care for a successful universal health care in order to make high-quality medical services more equal and accessible for population, - the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, said at the high-level meeting on universal health care held under the auspices of the United Nations in New York.

According to the Georgian President's press office, Zourabichvili addressed the meeting and said that the Georgian authorities had made health care a political priority and that through effective mobilization of resources, 90% of the Georgian population already had access to essential health services.

"Leave no one behind" - this is our common goal. I stand before you today to make a commitment and urge all Member States to take steps to achieve universal health care. I am pleased that our Permanent Representative to the United Nations, together with his Thai counterpart, contributed to the global negotiation process as a facilitator.

Since 2013, Georgia has demonstrated that universal health care can be achieved in countries with limited resources. We declared health care a political priority and, through effective mobilization of resources, 90% of Georgia's population now has access to essential health services. Introduction of universal health care as the main mechanism for eliminating financial barriers has reduced our out-of-pocket payments by 25%; the risks of impoverishment have also been reduced”, Zourabichvili said.

According to the President's press service, Salome Zourabichvili also emphasized that the citizens of the occupied regions were not allowed to have full access to universal health care.

“My heart remains with our citizens living in the occupied regions, who often do not have the opportunity to fully enjoy the benefits of universal health care offered by the state of Georgia”, the President said.