This week the UN General Assembly adopted a Universal Health Coverage (UHC) resolution. It draws attention to the 100 million people driven below the poverty line every year as a result of paying for healthcare, and shows the extent to which direct, out-of-pocket payments discourage people, particularly the poorest, from seeking or continuing care.
It calls on countries to adapt the way in which healthcare systems are financed in order to increase coverage of health services and ensure that individuals are not impoverished as a result of accessing basic healthcare. It also places a strong emphasis on equity, ensuring that the health needs of vulnerable people are addressed.
The resolution was drafted and championed by the Foreign Policy and Global Health Group made up of Brazil, France, Indonesia, Norway, Senegal, South Africa and Thailand.
Towards the end of the negotiations, a sticking point turned out to be some countries wanting to weaken recommendations for the inclusion of UHC in discussions on the post-2015 development agenda.
It seems that some governments that want to prioritise specific health challenges (such as non-communicable diseases) without ensuring that sustainable health systems that provide care to all are in place; they are still to be convinced that working towards UHC is an essential long-term strategy for addressing all health challenges for the whole population.
But by adopting this resolution, governments have finally recognised their responsibility to urgently scale up efforts towards universal coverage of affordable and quality healthcare services especially for the poorest.
The resolution demonstrates overwhelming global consensus that working towards UHC is not only possible, but necessary for realising the right to health and achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
If all countries implemented these recommendations we could dramatically reduce the number of children who die each year from preventable causes.
But will the recommendations and principles of the resolution be put into practice? There is a risk that the Foreign Policy and Global Health Group, along with the other sponsors of the resolution, will consider their job done by having adopted the resolution and will not take concrete steps to support those countries with the greatest health challenges trying to adapt their health systems to meet the needs of the whole population.
As discussions about a post-2015 development agenda gain pace, this timely resolution at least will help ensure that UHC stays high on the agenda and is included in discussions about new goals and targets for health after the MDGs deadline is reached.
The resolution calls for further high-level discussions on UHC to be held in 2013. Civil society has followed this process closely until now and should ensure that momentum and political support for UHC continues to grow.