UN High-level Meetings on Universal Health Coverage

In September 2019, Heads of State and Government endorsed an ambitious and comprehensive political declaration at the United Nations General Assembly high-level meeting on universal health coverage (UHC), reaffirming the right of every human being, without distinction of any kind, to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and recommitting to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. The declaration was adopted through resolution A/RES/74/2, with a decision to convene a high-level meeting on universal health coverage in 2023 in New York.

In 2023, the high-level meeting (HLM) aimed for a concise, action oriented declaration based on a comprehensive review of the implementation of the 2019 declaration, lessons learned from COVID-19, identified gaps, and evidence-based recommendations to accelerate progress towards the achievement of universal health coverage by 2030. The declaration was adopted through resolution A/RES/78/4, with a decision to convene another HLM on universal health coverage in 2027 in New York. The recordings of the meeting are accessible on UN TV (opening, panel 1, panel 2).

As part of the preparatory process for the 2023 HLM on UHC, a multistakeholder hearing was organized on 9 May 2023 at the UN in New York. The summary of the hearing is accessible here: Summary of multistakeholder hearing. The written statements from multistakeholders can be accessed here.

In addition, the Group of Friends of UHC and Global Health platform, organized technical briefings and thematic dialogue series in 2022-2023, providing updates on the latest data, evidence, and policy recommendations. Technical briefs prepared by WHO in support of the different meetings are available below.