It means that all people, including the most disadvantaged, can access the quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without facing financial hardship.
But UHC is about more than health insurance, or treating the sick – it’s about protecting the healthy by promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing disease.
The power of UHC is that it doesn’t only result in improved health. It also reduces poverty by eliminating one of its causes; it creates jobs for health and care workers; it drives inclusive economic growth by ensuring people are healthy and able to work; it promotes gender equality, because it is often women who miss out on health services; and it protects people against epidemics by ensuring outbreaks are prevented, detected early and contained.
UHC is not a new idea. But its inclusion as one of the targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has given new political impetus to the global movement that has been gathering pace for some years. It is also the one target that, if achieved, will catalyze progress towards all the other health targets and many of the other goals.
Far from being a luxury that only rich countries can afford, UHC is achievable and affordable for all countries, at all income levels.
Senegal, for example, is making progress towards a publicly-funded health insurance system.
In Vietnam, more than 60% of the population, and 90% of the poor, are now covered by state-subsidized social health insurance. That’s six times more than 20 years ago.
In Peru, budget-funded health insurance for the poor and those who do not work in the formal sector has led to significant improvements in the health of women and children, and large reductions in the death of newborns and infants.
Similar stories can be told in countries as diverse as the Czech Republic, Indonesia and Rwanda.
A WHO study earlier this year predicted that among 67 low- and middle-income countries that account for 75% of the world’s population, 85% of the costs of achieving the SDG health targets by 2030 could be met with domestic resources.
Yes, some of the most fragile countries will continue to need external assistance. But for most countries, UHC is affordable and achievable.
Ultimately, it’s a matter of political will.
Governments with the determination, courage and foresight to invest in strengthening their health systems towards UHC will reap the benefits long into the future.
This is our vision. We back it up with hard evidence, technical know-how and lessons from around the world about what works and what doesn’t.
At the UHC Forum in Tokyo this week, more countries are committing to making the investments in a future that is healthier, safer and fairer for their citizens.
Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/12/healthcare-costs-are-pushing-millions-into-extreme-poverty-this-outrage-must-end?utm_source=WHO+List&utm_campaign=6224464e14-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_12_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_823e9e35c1-6224464e14-266698981
