Abstract:
All people aspire to receive quality, affordable health care. In recent years, this aspiration has
spurred calls for universal health coverage (UHC) and has given birth to a global UHC
movement. In 2005, this movement led the World Health Assembly to call on governments to
“develop their health systems, so that all people have access to services and do not suffer
financial hardship paying for them.” In December 2012, the movement prompted the United
Nations General Assembly to call on governments to “urgently and significantly scale-up efforts
to accelerate the transition towards universal access to affordable and quality healthcare
services.” Today, some 30 middle-income countries are implementing programs that aim to
advance the transition to UHC, and many other low- and middle-income countries are
considering launching similar programs.
