Geneva, Switzerland, May 22, 2013 / 23:03 pm
The head of a Vatican delegation to the World Health Assembly on Wednesday called for universal health care coverage and an "integral" approach to health care that responds to a person's spiritual needs.
Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, head of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, stressed the need for "integral development." This approach, he said, does not focus only on health care or economic growth, but also attends to "the spiritual state of the person."
"Health and development ought to be integral if they are to respond fully to the needs of every human person. What we hold important is the human person - each person, each group of people, and humanity as a whole," he said May 22 to the 66th World Health Assembly.
The assembly is meeting from May 20-28 in Geneva. It is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, the public health arm of the United Nations.