Universal Health Coverage Day

Every 12 December on International Universal Health Coverage Day, advocates raise their voices to share the stories of the millions of people still waiting for health, to call on leaders to make smarter investments in health and to remind the world the imperative of Health for All. The United Nations has adopted 17 sustainable development goals for eliminating poverty and building a more resilient planet. One of those goals includes providing universal health coverage. A coalition of more than 700 organizations in 116 countries mark 12 December as Universal Health Coverage day, urging world leaders to deliver on promises to achieve universal health coverage. The goal of universal health coverage is to ensure that all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship when paying for them.


FORUM: ''Health for All: Protect Everyone." Universal Health Coverage Dat 2020.

Achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030 requires:

  • a strong, efficient, well-run health system;

  • a system for financing health services;

  • access to essential medicines and technologies;

  • a sufficient capacity of well-trained, motivated health workers.

CAMPAIGN: The global coalition of leading health and development organizations worldwide is urging governments to accelerate reforms that ensure everyone, everywhere, can access quality health services without being forced into poverty. The coalition emphasizes the importance of universal access to health services for saving lives, ending extreme poverty, building resilience against the health effects of climate change and ending deadly epidemics.

Statement by the United Nations Secretary-General on International Universal Health Coverage Day, 12 December 2020.


The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us just how important it is for all countries to have strong health systems that provide the entire population with quality services when and where they need them.

This year we have seen the tragedy that strikes when health facilities are overwhelmed by a new, highly infectious and often deadly disease – and when the effort to address that emergency means that systems are so stretched they can no longer provide other essential services such as cancer screening, routine immunization and care for mothers and babies.

We must do far more if we are to reach our goal of achieving universal health coverage by 2030.

This means spending more on health. But it also means spending better, from protecting health workers and strengthening infrastructure to preventing diseases and providing healthcare close to home, in the community. Investments in health systems also improve countries’ preparedness and response to future health emergencies.

Health emergencies have disproportionate impacts on marginalized and vulnerable populations. As new COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments become available, they must reach all those who need them. This year’s pandemic has shown us that no one is safe until everyone is safe.

In responding to the pandemic, we have seen rapid innovative approaches to health service delivery and models of care, and advances in preparedness. We must learn from this experience.

For Universal Health Coverage Day, let us commitment to end this crisis and build a safer and healthier future by investing in health systems that protect us all — now.

António Guterres, UN. Secretary- General.

New WHO tool to help countries advance towards universal health coverage

One of WHO’s 3 strategic goals is to ensure that an additional 1 billion people in the world are protected by universal health coverage (UHC) by 2023 – able to access the services they need to keep healthy, without falling into poverty as a result.

A key step in making this a reality is for countries to be able to work out what services their people need and how to provide them.

WHO’s new UHC Compendium, the product of a wide-ranging multi-year collaboration across WHO programmes and partners, is designed to help them do just this. Basically a toolbox for countries to build packages of essential services, the Compendium offers national health authorities and decision-makers a database of over 3500 health actions across all health areas from which they can choose when planning and budgeting their health programmes.The Compendium brings together evidence, guidance, resource inputs and cost analysis into one go-to platform. In addition, it gives tips and options for choosing among the most cost-effective actions to develop a comprehensive package suited to national context. The database provides a global reference point for how to organize and present information on health interventions for UHC across the full life course and for all diseases, and includes a diverse set of actions spanning prevention, rehabilitation, and treatment, as well as inter-sectoral interventions.

Version 1.0 of the Compendium focuses on clinical health services that can be grouped dynamically into categories such as health programmes, life-course stage, and sustainable development goals.

For example, the Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI) can filter health actions related to immunization to see the relevant health actions in a table.

So country users can refer to the UHC Compendium as a one-stop shop to inform decisions around which services to consider for provision within their system. In forthcoming versions, users will be able to view resource needs, costs and other information to guide their prioritization process.


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