[Comment] Accelerating progress on essential medicines: a new Lancet Commission

There is no equity in access to basic health care. The latest biennial report on universal health coverage reported that in 2021 4·5 billion people—about half the world's population—had no access to basic health services, and progress has stalled since 2019.1 The percentage of people facing catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure for health care has risen from 11·9% in 2005 to 16·7% in 2019, with high expenditure on medicines being a major contributor.1