International Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day 2020 commemorated with the theme ‘Health for all—Protect everyone’

12 December 2020, New Delhi: The International Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day 2020 was commemorated at an event organized by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in collaboration with WHO Country Office for India. The occasion got together the thought leadership under one platform – to keep the promise of ‘Health for all—Protect everyone’.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India while giving an overview of the work done under the ambit of the Government’s ambitious programme Ayushman Bharat and its two wings – the Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY) shared that the government has been making quality healthcare affordable and accessible for crores of people in the country.

“We have made remarkable progress in operationalizing Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centers and crossed a major landmark in our journey. With 51 500 centers now functional, more than 1/3^rd  of the target has been met. This has led to improved access to affordable primary healthcare services for more than 25 crore people. It is our aim to establish 1.5 lakh such centers by December 2022. This also includes 12 500 AYUSH Health and Wellness Centers being set up by Ministry of AYUSH,” he added.

Stressing upon the need to build resilient health systems- that are prepared to deal with potential pandemic, outbreaks as well as natural disasters, Dr Roderico H. Ofrin, WHO Country Representative to India stated, “As we continue to respond to the pandemic, the need is to consider the lessons learnt and re-imagine, re-align and reset our thinking and ways of working, to find new solution to rebuilding back differently a resilient health system”.

Dr Harsh Vardhan echoed the same sentiment and opined, “We must do away with the status quo that got us here and settle for nothing less than strong health systems that protect everyone — now and in the future. It has been my long-standing belief that India has the ability to deliver to the world, a robust model for providing Universal Health Coverage.”

Dr David Nabaro, WHO Special Envoy on COVID-19 who joined the event virtually delivered a keynote address. In his speech, he highlighted the progress made towards universal health coverage (UHC) in India and underscored the relevance of UHC in the context of COVID-19 learnings.  He added that the role of India’s leadership to make global progress on UHC is indispensable.

During the event, 1 153 primary healthcare workers were felicitated for exemplary service– their contribution in ensuring the continuation of essential health services and driving the UHC agenda during the pandemic is unparalleled.

To mark the international UHC Day 2020, MoHFW launched various resources including non-communicable diseases (NCD) medical officer app, and guidelines for implementing and monitoring various health programs.

Dr Harsh Vardhan also launched the SDG-3 Health Dashboard that was developed with support from the WHO Country Office for India. The dashboard application would enable policy makers and program implementers to store, manage, visualize, explore, monitor and report national and state level SDG progress, identify key priorities areas that require action and in framing future action plan for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030. A technical session was also organized to sensitize the state level officials on new guidelines and understanding the functionalities of the SDG dash board. 

A compendium of Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) Operationalization which provides an overview of the progress and achievement over the last two years in operationalizing HWCs across the country under the Ayushman Bharat program; and guidelines for Comprehensive Primary Health Care Services for Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT), Eye, Mental Neurological Substance-use (MNS) disorder as well as Jan Aarogya Samiti (JAS) were also released  to support the States and UTs to achieve the mandate of providing expanded range of services at functional Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centers. The 5^th National Family Health Survey Phase I was also released for 22 states/UTs by the Hon’ble Health Minister.  To know more about other guidelines released during the event, Click here.

In run up to the International UHC day 2020, MOHFW and WHO India had collaborated for a series of advocacy events. As part of advocacy, a balloon with a message ‘Health for all- Protect everyone’, was hoisted near Nirman Bhawan MoHFW building. Face masks and other advocacy material were developed and distributed to the partners across the country.

To tap in to the ever-increasing popularity of social networking sites, WHO Country Office for India also developed a series of emoticons on the theme ‘Health for all, protect everyone’ to spread the message of universal health coverage to one and all.

The key dignitaries present during the occasion were Sh. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare;  Sh. Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary; Ms Vandana Gurnani, Addl. Secretary and Mission Director, National Health Mission;  Mr Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary;  ShVishal Chouhan, Joint Secretary; Smt Ratna Anjan Jena, DG Statistics; Ms Payden, Deputy WHO Representative, WHO Country Office for India; Dr Hilde De Graeve, Team Lead, Health System, WHO Country Office for India and other senior officials of the ministry, USAID and WHO. Senior government officials serving the various States and UTs joined digitally.