Part 1: Introduction to UHC
E. The UHC LandscapeThere are many actors, partnerships and policy processes in the UHC movement. In this section, we briefly describe who is who at the global and regional levels.
Global
Article 25, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”
World Health Organization (WHO)
The WHO has made UHC its top strategic priority and has committed to ensuring that 1 billion more people benefit from UHC by 2025.
UHC2030
UHC2030 is the global movement to build stronger health systems for UHC, with over 66 partners including governments, international organizations, civil society organizations, the private sector, academia and the media.
The Civil Society Engagement Mechanism for UHC2030 was established to raise civil society voices in UHC2030 to ensure that UHC policies are inclusive and equitable, and that systematic attention is given to the most marginalized and vulnerable populations so that no one is left behind. As the civil society constituency of UHC2030, CSEM is a vital entry point for civil society organizations to engage in UHC advocacy and raise their voices to the global movement through a shared platform. Join now.
New partners can also join UHC2030 by signing the Global Compact for Progress Towards UHC.
Tip
UHC2030 is the secretariat of the multi-stakeholder coordination group for Universal Health Coverage Day: 12 December and produces a campaign site each year with advocacy tools and resources.
Global Action Plan (GAP) or Healthy Lives and Well-being for All
The Global Action Plan is partnership between UN health, development and humanitarian agencies to better support countries to accelerate progress towards the health-related SDGs.
UHC Partnership
The UHC Partnership brings together health experts in 115 countries to promote UHC by fostering policy dialogue on strategic planning and health systems governance, developing health financing strategies and supporting their implementation, and enabling effective development cooperation in countries.
Tip
Profiles of key countries’ progress on UHC can be found at the UHC Partnership website.
World Bank
The World Bank describes UHC as the key to achieving its twin goals of ending extreme poverty and increasing equity and shared prosperity, and the driving force behind the Bank’s investments in health and nutrition.
Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A)
The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.
Tip
The Platform for Community and Civil Society Representatives to the ACT-A advocates for and supports community and civil society representatives in all pillars and workstreams of the ACT-A framework. Learn more and join
Other Global Commitments on UHC
Besides the SDG target on UHC and the Political Declaration, there have been several other important global statements and resolutions from the G7, G20, UN and World Health Assembly.
- G7 Carbis Bay Health Declaration, 2021
- G7 Ise-Shima Vision for Global Health, 2016
- G20 Hamburg, 2017
- G20 Osaka, 2019
- World Health Assembly Resolutions, 2019
- UN General Assembly Resolution, 2020: Global health and foreign policy: an inclusive approach to strengthening health systems
Regional
Africa
Awareness of the importance of domestic health budgets in Africa can be traced back to the Abuja Declaration in 2001. There are several important policy frameworks and regional initiatives in the African region. These include:
Abuja Declaration (2001): In 2001, African Union (AU) countries pledged to allocate at least 15% of their annual budget to the health sector. The Abuja +12 Declaration in 2013 saw governments renew their pledges to end the epidemics of HIV, TB and malaria by 2030. In 2015, the Abuja Call and AU Roadmap were reviewed and extended to 2030.
AU Catalytic Framework to end AIDS, TB and Malaria in Africa by 2030 (2016): The objective of the Catalytic Framework is to intensify the implementation of the Abuja+12 commitments by building Africa-wide consensus on the key strategic actions within the context of the existing targets and milestones.
African Health Strategy (2016-2030): A framework providing strategic direction to Africa’s Member States in their efforts to strengthen health systems performance, increase investments in health, improve equity and address social determinants of health to reduce priority diseases burden. A set of objectives is linked to each disease and targets set to eliminate them by 2030.
Key Readings:
- UHC in Africa: A Framework for Action (2016): This report by the World Bank and WHO proposes a set of actions for countries and stakeholders involved in the UHC process in Africa.
- Africa Scorecard on Domestic Financing for Health (2019): The Africa Scorecard is a tool for AU Member States to use in financial planning and expenditure tracking, based on the latest available data.
- State of UHC in Africa Report (2021): This report by the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) Commission takes stock of the progress made on UHC in the continent and identifies challenges and opportunities. The report also provides recommendations to accelerate progress toward UHC, including re-orienting health systems and health system priorities to respond to population health needs, and prioritizing and strengthening primary health care as the foundation for UHC.
Asia
Key regional UHC frameworks to be aware of in Asia include:
Universal Health Coverage: Moving Towards Better Health Action Framework for the Western Pacific Region (2016): Developed to support countries in realizing this vision of better health through UHC, the framework outlines shared principles of UHC and reflects the values of the WHO Constitution, the Health for All agenda set by the Alma-Ata Declaration in 1978 and multiple World Health Assembly resolutions.
South-East Asia Regional Strategy for Universal Health Coverage (2015): This Regional Strategy was developed in consultation with experts from within and outside the region, highlighting equity as its core objective and the principles of primary health care (PHC) as the starting point for reform.
Key Readings:
- Monitoring progress on universal health coverage and the health-related sustainable development goals in the South-East Asia Region (2019): This WHO report discusses regional highlights of progress on UHC and other health-related sustainable development goals (SDGs). There is a special focus on progress made on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
Latin America and the Caribbean
A regional strategy for UHC in Latin America is:
Strategy for Universal Access to Health and Universal Health Coverage (2014): Developed by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), this strategy for UHC was based on a broad-based participatory dialogue on challenges, innovative approaches and solutions in the region to advance toward universal coverage.
Key Readings:
- Towards UHC and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean: Evidence from Selected Countries (2014): This volume reviews progress in reducing inequalities in health outcomes, service utilization, and financial protection, and assesses the common trends emerging from these reforms.
- Just Societies: Health Equity and Dignified Lives – Report of the Commission of the Pan American Health Organization on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Americas (2019): This report provides examples of policies, programs, and actions implemented in countries in the region and presents recommendations to achieve health equity, calling for coordinated actions among local and national governments, transnational organizations, and civil society to address the social determinants of health.
UHC Policy Frameworks and Strategies
UHC Map
