Search
AI-powered search, human-powered content.
scroll to top arrow or icon

Half the world can’t access healthcare. How can the World Bank help?

Globally, a shocking 4.5 billion people — more than half the world’s population — lack access to essential healthcare and another 2 billion have to make tough financial choices to find care. That means for the majority of people on earth when a child is sick, families can’t get medicine; when a mother gives birth, the delivery is unsafe; when people develop chronic conditions, they go untreated.

Billions of individual tragedies come together to hold back development in some of the world's most fragile countries, and that’s where the World Bank has a role to play. Monique Vledder runs the Global Health Practice at the World Bank, and she sat down with GZERO’s Tony Maciulis at a Global Stage event for the institution’s annual Spring Meetings.


She announced ambitious goals to start tackling the problem: “We are planning to reach, with our financing and our programs, 1.5 billion people over the next five years with quality health services,” she says, expanding the World Bank’s geographic footprint in healthcare to target vulnerable countries and build capacity in their healthcare systems.

For more of our 2024 IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings coverage, visit Glogal Stage.

More from Global Stage

Mother-son podcasting duo take on quantum computing

Quantum computing is moving closer to real-world applications, but making the technology understandable remains a challenge.

How AI speeds up disaster relief efforts

Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly powerful tool for disaster preparedness and emergency response. Speaking at the 2026 AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith explains how AI combines predictive modeling, satellite imagery, and public data to help governments identify vulnerable communities before disasters strike and respond more quickly when they do.

Can AI help solve global crises? Live from the AI for Good Global Summit 2026

As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes the global economy, one question is becoming increasingly urgent: who will actually benefit? Recorded at the 2026 AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, this special Global Stage conversation brings together leaders from the United Nations, Microsoft, and the scientific community to examine how AI can help tackle some of the world's biggest challenges, from disaster preparedness and climate resilience to humanitarian response and sustainable development.

Building a safer, more equitable AI future

At the 2026 AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin says the future of artificial intelligence depends on putting the right guardrails in place to ensure AI is developed safely, responsibly, and equitably.

The World Bank Group's Sangbu Kim on AI and job skills

More than half of Americans believe their job is vulnerable to AI. The data tells a more complicated and in some ways more hopeful story.

Can AI protect humanitarian aid?

Artificial intelligence is already helping humanitarian organizations identify people in need, improve supply chains, and deliver assistance more efficiently. But it also introduces new risks.