Review
According to the latest available data, more than half of the world’s population lacks access to basic health services, and the shortage of health workers is estimated to reach 10 million by 2030. These contextual factors point to an urgent need to explore innovative strategies – that go beyond the conventional health sector response – to reaching people with the health services they need.
Self-care interventions offer enormous potential to improve individual agency and reduce health inequities by increasing the availability of accessible, acceptable, and affordable health care options that complement and can complement the services and care received in a health facility. As we reach the halfway point towards the end of the 15-year period of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and look at the challenges facing the world, we must embrace potentially transformative solutions. WHO recommends self-care interventions for every country and economic environment as key tools to improve primary health care, achieve universal health coverage (UHC), promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.