According to a new study, over 400 million people across the world are living without access to essential health services and millions are moving towards poverty because their governments are unable to provide adequate healthcare.

The study has been conducted by the World Bank and WHO. A report of 98 pages have been published by authors; the report 'Tracking Universal Health Coverage' says that it's the first study to measure development in the direction of universal health by evaluating health service exposure and expenditure by countries on health care.

The report covers 37 nations between 2002 and 2012 and concentrates on people's ability to get access to essential health services by studying seven components i. e. antenatal care, family planning, skilled birth attendance, antiretroviral therapy, child immunization, tuberculosis treatment, and access to clean water and sanitation.

It has been found by researchers that more than 400 million people are not having access to at least one of these essential services.

According to Dr Tim Evans, Senior Director of Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank Group, "This report is a wakeup call: It shows that we're a long way from achieving universal health coverage. We must expand access to health and protect the poorest from health expenses that are causing them severe financial hardship".

The study also found that 17% of the world's population across 37 countries is being forced to live in extreme poverty on $2 per day.