Achieving universal health coverage.

Joseph Wong

doi:10.2471/blt.14.149070

Abstract

Achieving universal health coverage.

Highlights

There is global consensus on the goals of universal health coverage (UHC), which has been defined as “all people receiving quality health services that meet their needs without exposing them to financial hardship in paying for them.”[1]
The main constraint in achieving UHC has been understood in terms of lack of ability to pay for health services
Conventional wisdom prescribes the reduction of financial barriers – such as the removal of user fees – to achieve UHC.[2]

Summary

Introduction

There is global consensus on the goals of universal health coverage (UHC), which has been defined as “all people receiving quality health services that meet their needs without exposing them to financial hardship in paying for them.”[1]. Most poor workers in low- and middle-income countries are employed informally, irregularly or casually and as a result are fiscally invisible;[4] hundreds of millions live in slums – illegal settlements without official addresses;[5] stateless peoples such as the Roma in Europe and the “hill peoples” in Asia are excluded from the health care benefits of citizenship.[6] Until recently, nearly half of India’s population had no formal identification; in China, the household registration system means that hundreds of millions of migrant workers are ineligible for social benefits;[7] in Israel, unrecognized Bedouin villages are literally off the official map.

Results

Conclusion