WHO commemorates UHC Day at the UN

WHO/J. Clark

Several UN Member States, UN system colleagues and external partners joined the WHO office at the United Nations (UN), the Permanent Missions of France, Japan, and Thailand to the UN and the World Bank Group, at a luncheon on 12 December 2016, to commemorate Universal Health Coverage (UHC) day on the theme “Health for All: Act with Ambition”, at the United Nations in New York. The event was moderated by Dr. Nata Menabde, Executive Director WUN, who highlighted the important role of UHC in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and called for UHC day to be considered as an official UN day.

WHO/J. Clark

Several speakers echoed this sentiment including H.E. Dessima Williams, Special Advisor to the 71st President of the General Assembly for the implementation of the SDGs, who stated that UHC is one of the best investments for ensuring achievement of the health SDG and the SDG Agenda as a whole.

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, UN Relations and Partnerships, the World Bank Group, shared his experience of working with UN Member States from both small and big economies and emphasized on the importance of domestic resource mobilization and the availability of quality data at the sub-national and national level.

WHO/J. Clark

H.E. Mrs. Chulamanee Chartsuwan, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Thailand to the UN, highlighted the UHC efforts her country has undertaken and the positive results they have seen in decreasing child and maternal deaths. Mr. Michael Myers, Managing Director of The Rockefeller Foundation pledged financial resources for the new UHC 2030 Coalition, and called on partners to focus on intersections, be prepared to ask tough questions and to build country capacity for UHC. Mrs. Gina Lagomarsino, President and CEO of Results for Development, outlined the efforts of civil society and spoke about service delivery through primary health care. She stressed on the need for a people-centered integrated approach and reminded audiences the importance of measurement.

WHO/J. Clark

A number of interventions took place from the floor, including the Mission of Japan who highlighted their strong leadership in and commitment to UHC and the upcoming UHC conference Japan will cohost together with WHO and the World Bank in 2017. The Mission of France, drew attention to the fact that they have advocated to keep 5% of the spending of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria for developing and strengthening health systems in a more horizontal way. Every Woman Every Child (EWEC) stressed that indicators will be key, especially with mechanisms in place such as the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health. Dr. Anthony Costello, WHO Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health, emphasized on the need to address the health needs of adolescents and the importance of good quality care.

The UNICEF Chief of Health, Dr. Stefan Peterson, spoke about the need to educate community health workers who are in the frontline of health crises. Dr. Elizabeth Carll, stressed on the importance of ensuring mental health is effectively incorporated in all healthcare settings while Dr. Padmini Murthy, noted the curriculum shift to primary health care in medical education as a cost effective measure.