UHC Day Side Event – December 6, 2023

Online event – “From Commitment to Accountability: Tracking Commitments to Accelerate Progress for Universal health Coverage”

With #UHCDay 2023 just around the corner, the CSEM team was pleased to invite you for an online civil-society led UHC Day side event ➡️ “From Commitment to Accountability: Tracking Commitments to Accelerate Progress for Universal health Coverage” on Wednesday, December 6, 2023 – 12:00pm to 1:15pm GMT.

Thank you to all who joined us online to kick-of the UHC Day momentum! Please find the recording, and more information on the content shared during the session below.

Context

According to the 2023 Global Monitoring report published by the World Health Organization and the World Bank biannually, progress towards UHC has stagnated, even reversed in some countries with a staggering 4.5 billion people still lacking access to essential health services and an estimated 2 billion facing financial hardship to access health services. The report shows that only 42 countries made improvements in service coverage between 2000 and 2021. The world is not on track to achieve targets to cover all people and to stop the rise or reverse the trend of catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure by 2030.

• United Nations High-level Meeting (HLM) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC)

At the HLM on UHC in September 2023, world leaders renewed their commitment to accelerate progress towards UHC and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Ahead of the UN HLM, diverse actors across the UHC movement came together behind the Action Agenda from the UHC Movement, a concise set of action-oriented policy recommendations that country leaders should implement to strengthen resilient and equitable health systems to deliver health for all by 2030. The Action Agenda was widely shared with Member States during the negotiations on the 2023 political declaration on UHC. Leaders made specific commitments in areas corresponding to these asks: 1. Champion political leadership for UHC; 2. Leave no one behind; 3. Adopt enabling laws and regulations; 4. Strengthen the health and care workforce to deliver quality health care; 5. Invest More and Better; 6. Move together towards UHC; 7. Guarantee gender equality in health; 8. Connect universal health coverage and health security.

• State of the UHC Commitment Review

Since 2020, a group of stakeholders led by UHC2030 have been monitoring countries’ progress towards UHC through the State of the UHC Commitment Review. The review brings a unique multi-stakeholder view to a simple question: what actions are governments taking to fulfill their UHC commitments?  Data sources include government documents, policy reviews, media monitoring, and online surveys in addition to civil society country consultations (the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism for UHC2030 (CSEM) and partners have led 37 consultations in 43 countries to captured stories, experiences and perspectives of civil society and communities that show the real progress made toward UHC on the ground).

• UHC Day 2023

This civil society-led session marking UHC Day 2023 themed “Health for All: Time for Action’‘ will share key findings and recommendations from the State of the 2023 UHC Commitment synthesis and dashboard that showcases national UHC commitments and progress over time. The findings and recommendations will shape policy decisions and actions particularly at the country level with a focus on implementation and accountability. Speakers will also reflect on the HLM commitments and steps that governments should take to translate them into action to increase access to health services and reduce out of pocket health spending. The session will highlight priority areas for the global UHC movement to amplify in the lead-up to, during and after UHC Day.

Speakers 

Amy Boldosser-Boesch, Senior Director & Practice Lead, Health Policy, Advocacy and Engagement, MSH

Amy Boldosser-Boesch is Senior Technical Director and Practice Area Lead for Health Policy, Advocacy, and Engagement and Integrated Health Care. She oversees MSH’s work and teams dedicated to improving women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health and person-centered primary health care, including the FCI Program of MSH, and leads advocacy and accountability efforts for improved sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health and universal health coverage. Amy Boldosser-Boesch is also responsible for managing the Secretariat for the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism of UHC2030, which is hosted at MSH. 

Dr Shohei Okamoto, Technical Officer, UHC2030

Dr Shohei Okamoto is a Technical Officer at the UHC2030 Secretariat, which is co-hosted by the WHO, the World Bank and the OECD. He oversees the State of UHC commitment review, working with multistakeholders. Before joining UHC2030, he worked as an academic researcher as well as a consultant at the WHO’s Regional Office for the Western Pacific, covering topics, such as the social determinants of health, health inequity, healthy ageing and NCDs.

Carmen Ryan, Public Advocacy Coordinator and Public Policy Implementation Supporter, Fundacion Huesped

Carmen Ryan is the Public Advocacy Coordinator and Public Policy Implementation Supporter at Fundación Huésped based in Argentina. A lawyer by training, over the last 15 years she has worked with civil society organizations, international organizations, and public offices on different human rights projects. Carmen holds a postgraduate degree in public policies from the University of Buenos Aires and a master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratization in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Denis Godlevskiy, Co-founder and Board member, Health Advocacy Coalition  

Denis Godlevskiy is a co-founder and board member of the Health Advocacy Coalition (HAC), a non-profit organization promoting UHC principles in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region. He is also a regional coordinator for International Treatment Preparedness Coalition in EECA (ITPC EECA), a network of activists advocating for access to life-saving HIV, HCV and TB treatment and services.

Nupur Lalvani, Founder Director, Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation

Nupur Lalvani is a Global Health Advocate and the Founder Director of Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation, a registered nonprofit organization that works in diabetes awareness and advocacy. Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation is India’s largest community-led support group for people living with all types of diabetes. Nupur has lived experience of having type 1 diabetes since 1996 and is a Certified Diabetes Educator.

Maxwell Antwi, Country Director, PharmAccess

Maxwell Antwi is a Country Director at PharmAccess Foundation and a member of the WHO Roster of Experts on Digital Health. Before joining PharmAccess Group, he had worked for over a decade in senior capacities within and outside of the Ghana Health Service as a Specialist Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Healthcare Manager and a Public Health Professional. He currently leads a highly motivated team working with partners in Africa in mobilizing private and public resources to get more money into the health system whiles measuring and improving healthcare quality.

Resources shared during the webinar