Co-operatives have a key role in achieving the 2030 Agenda and improving health protection systems

News

News Finder

26.03.2019

Co-operatives have a key role in achieving the 2030 Agenda and improving health protection systems

This was highlighted by the President of the IHCO and Director General of the Espriu Foundation, Carlos Zarco, at a meeting of UN experts held in Nairobi (Kenya).

share news
The Director General of the Espriu Foundation and President of the International Health Co-operative Organisation (IHCO), Carlos Zarco, in the Expert Group Meeting organised by The UN's

The Espriu Foundation, the second largest network of health co-operatives in the world, participated today in the Expert Group Meeting organised by the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Development to analyse the role of co-operatives in the provision of universal healthcare.

The Director General of the Espriu Foundation and President of the International Health Co-operative Organisation (IHCO), Carlos Zarco, shared his global vision on implementing co-operative healthcare around the world and presented several examples of co-operative businesses with different structures and approaches.

He also explained the advantages and benefits that the co-operative business model brings to the health sector and explained the Spanish experience of the four companies which make up the Espriu Foundation: Autogestió Sanitària, Lavinia, Scias and Asisa.

“The particular characteristics of the business model of health co-operatives, which reinvest their profits in improving their services, guarantee sustainability and help societies with their commitment to improving health protection systems”, noted Zarco.

“Holding this type of meeting shows that the UN is committed to co-operatives as a business model with a key role in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and as a model in the health sector to contribute to universal health coverage”, added the General Director of the Espriu Foundation.

“Participating in this Expert Group Meeting and being able to share the case of the companies which make up the Espriu Foundation is very satisfying, given that our experience serves as a reference for other countries and contexts that can use this model as an example to follow”, he concluded.

The meeting, organised by the UN’s Division for Inclusive Social Development in Nairobi (Kenya), was also attended by other experts who debated the role of co-operatives in the reduction of poverty, job creation, food security and nutrition, women’s empowerment and the promotion of social inclusion.

Go to content start