Abstract
ProblemIf universal health coverage (UHC) is to be achieved globally, it needs sustained promotion and political awareness and support.ApproachDuring its presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations in 2016, Japan aimed to raise the issue of UHC to the top of the global health agenda.Local settingJapan has promoted a health agenda at all of the G7 summits since 2000 that it has hosted. Human security has been the core foundation of Japan’s foreign diplomacy for several decades and, consequently, there was no apparent opposition within Japan to the inclusion of UHC on the agenda of the summit in 2016. Other G7 governments appeared keen to promote such coverage.Relevant changesSince the 2016 summit, UHC has remained a central agenda item for the United Nations and World Health Organization, even though the leaders of both these global organizations have changed. In 2017, Japan hosted the UHC Forum in Tokyo. The participants, who were the heads of United Nations agencies, politicians and other decision-makers from all over the world, showed their continued commitment towards UHC.Lessons learntIn the raising of awareness of an item on the global health agenda, high-level champions are critical. Although they may be very diverse, all relevant stakeholders need to be connected and allowed to discuss policies with each other. Having too many allies can, however, lead to policy fragmentation, especially when there is commitment from the highest echelons within each country.
Highlights
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), universal health coverage (UHC) “means that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship.”[1]. One main aim of the Agenda for Sustainable Development, as adopted at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 2015, is to achieve such coverage by 2030.2
In April–June 2016, we conducted interviews with employees of the Japanese ministries of finance, foreign affairs and health, labour and welfare who worked in departments connected to global health
Our aims were to investigate the preparatory process behind the 2016 G7 summit, which was held in the Ise-Shima area of Japan on 26–27 May 2016, and its related meetings, investigate how the Japanese government obtained consensus among the diverse stakeholders involved in the summit and determine which people and which other factors appeared most important in the global promotion of UHC
Summary
Haruka Sakamoto,a Satoshi Ezoe,b Kotono Hara,c Eiji Hinoshita,c Yui Sekitani,b Keishi Abe,b Haruhiko Inada,b Takuma Kato,b Kenichi Komada,b Masami Miyakawa,d Hiroyuki Yamaya,b Naoko Yamamoto,b Sarah Krull Abea & Kenji Shibuyaa. Problem If universal health coverage (UHC) is to be achieved globally, it needs sustained promotion and political awareness and support. Local setting Japan has promoted a health agenda at all of the G7 summits since 2000 that it has hosted. Relevant changes Since the 2016 summit, UHC has remained a central agenda item for the United Nations and World Health Organization, even though the leaders of both these global organizations have changed. Lessons learnt In the raising of awareness of an item on the global health agenda, high-level champions are critical. They may be very diverse, all relevant stakeholders need to be connected and allowed to discuss policies with each other. Having too many allies can, lead to policy fragmentation, especially when there is commitment from the highest echelons within each country
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