Universal Health Coverage Day shines a light on the global movement for health for all – and the devastating effects of unaffordable care.
Universal coverage means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. Achieving this goal is one of the targets the nations of the world set when they adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015.
As we mark the international day this year, the theme – “Unaffordable health costs? We’re sick of it!” – carries tremendous urgency. For UNFPA, this is not just a slogan, but a moral imperative rooted in the reality for millions of women and girls and marginalized communities: The cost of life-saving care – the cost of dignity and choice – remains out of reach.
Universal coverage is incomplete if it does not integrate sexual and reproductive health and rights as essential services. Globally, some 259 million women who want to prevent pregnancy are still not using modern contraceptives. Every day, more than 700 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth; many more endure life-altering injuries. These are not statistics, but avoidable tragedies stemming from a lack of universal health coverage.
When family planning is left out of coverage, or access to a skilled midwife is a matter of luck or expense, or reproductive and maternal health medicines must be paid out of pocket, the coverage is not universal; it is unequal.
The path to universal health coverage by 2030 requires addressing the systemic inequalities that push people towards financial ruin when they seek care. Key priorities include:
- Stopping financial hardship: Governments must accelerate the integration of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services – including maternal and newborn care and contraceptives – into essential covered benefits.
- Investing in midwifery: Sustainable, domestic financing to address the global shortage of midwives must be prioritized, enabling these crucial health workers to deliver comprehensive sexual and reproductive services.
- Ensuring coverage of quality-assured essential reproductive health commodities: Too often, while a service may be free or affordable, medicines and laboratory tests need to be paid out of pocket, causing financial strain on women, families and communities.
- Ending gender-based violence: Coverage must include integrated gender-based violence services, including the full clinical management of rape, as well as care for the physical and mental health consequences of gender-based violence.
UNFPA urges world leaders to commit not just to covering healthcare, but to covering the rights and choices that empower people to make decisions about their own bodies, lives and futures.
