Why essential medicines matter

4.5 billion

people — half the world's population — had no access to the basic health care necessary to deliver essential medicines.

2021

16.7%

of people face catastrophic out-of-pocket expenses (cOOE), to which medicines are a major contributor.

2019

11.7 million

women face an immediate threat to modern contraception funding, potentially leading to 4.2 million unintended pregnancies.

Recent estimate