To commemorate the first ever Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day, WHO Country Office for India, in partnership with the Public Health Foundation of India and Oxfam India, organized a consultation on 12 December 2014 at New Delhi on ‘Universal Health Coverage in India and beyond: Building health systems to save lives and reduce inequity’.
Two years ago on 12 December 2012 on this day, the United Nations unanimously endorsed a resolution on UHC, urging governments to move towards providing all people with access to affordable, quality health-care services. The resolution emphasizes health as an essential element of international development. Importantly, the resolution recognizes the role of health in achieving international development goals and calls for countries, civil society and international organizations to include universal health coverage in the international development agenda. The resolution also calls on Member States to adopt a multisectoral approach and to work on the social, environmental and economic determinants of health to reduce inequities and enable sustainable development.
UHC is based on the WHO constitution of 1948 declaring health a fundamental human right. WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan has termed UHC as the single most powerful concept that public health has to offer. Advancing universal health coverage and robust health systems is one of the strategic priorities reflected in the “1 by 4” plan of Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia.
Speaking about the UHC Day, Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India said, “This day represents a crucial opportunity for all those engaged in the movement towards UHC to highlight the progress made so far and also reflect on the challenges ahead. It is also an opportunity to call for UHC to be the cornerstone of the sustainable development agenda and making it a global priority.”
Dr Menabde, delivered a keynote address on ‘UHC - Setting the stage for health systems reform’ on the occasion. She highlighted the need for accelerated progress towards Universal Health Coverage in India. She also emphasized that the quality of health services, medicines and diagnostics in the country needs to be improved to make the National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM) a success.
The keynote address was followed by a high-level panel on UHC in India - challenges vs opportunities. A discussion paper on 'Health financing for UHC in India' was also released on the occasion. The consultation was attended by around 50 subject experts and representatives of healthcare organizations.