Held every year since 2012 on 12 December, Universal Health Coverage (UHC) day gathers partners globally to reaffirm the urgency for greater action and progress towards UHC. WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific calls for countries to ensure good quality health services are accessible to all as it celebrates UHC Day. Dr. Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific said, “Every country – no matter how rich or poor – can do something now to improve access to good quality services, to improve financial protection and to improve efficiency.”
UHC is critical to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It requires that everyone is able to access quality health services they need without suffering financial hardship. UHC is not intended to be aspirational, it can be realized.
Over the past 10 years, the Western Pacific Region has advanced towards UHC. China's population coverage by health insurance increased from 22% in 2003 to over 95% today. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Philippines and Pacific island countries are integrating health information systems to obtain more comprehensive, reliable and timely data to improve evidence-based health policy-making. China, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Pacific island countries updated policies and took actions to improve generic medicines procurement and supply chain management to reduce inefficiencies.
Strong health systems are necessary to achieve UHC. Dr Shin has reminded countries that “attaining universal health coverage requires strong, efficient and well-managed health systems that ensure equitable access.”
At the sixty-sixth session of the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in October 2015, Member States endorsed Universal Health Coverage: Moving Towards Better Health – an action framework that provides guidance for Member States to advance towards UHC.
The action framework proposes 15 action domains across five health system attributes – quality, efficiency, equity, accountability, and sustainability and resilience – for countries at all levels of development to consider in their country-specific pathways towards UHC and attainment of the SDGs.
There is no one-size-fits-all formula to achieve UHC. Health systems necessarily reflect their national health priorities, as well as their social, economic and political contexts, and their history of development. However, all countries need to take a comprehensive and the whole-of-system approach. Strengthening primary care and placing individuals, families and communities at the centre is essential for progressing UHC.
WHO and Member States have committed to take actions to increase access to good quality and affordable health services for everyone and make UHC a reality. Working together towards UHC, we can help the Region’s 1.8 billion people enjoy better health.