Inclusive Universal Health Coverage: A Pathway to Health Equity

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is a global commitment to ensure that everyone can access quality health services without suffering financial hardship. Yet millions of people still face barriers to essential health care or risk catastrophic out-of-pocket costs, and in many countries, inequities are again widening.

Persons with disabilities, migrants, refugees, displaced populations, women and girls, older persons, and other marginalized groups often face discrimination, exclusion, language barriers, legal and administrative barriers, and unequal access to affordable, quality care.

At a time of shifting political priorities in many countries, but also regionally and globally, this session will examine where we stand on structural inequities, and the policy and system changes needed to ensure UHC remains progressive – and inclusive. How we can safeguard the rights and needs of marginalized populations and ensure that they do not become further excluded from health systems? How can political commitments to inclusion and equity – and UHC more broadly - be sustained, particularly when resources are constrained and priorities are changing?

Bringing together experts with lived experiences from disability inclusion, migration and displacement, gender equality, and the right to health, the speakers and panel will explore why a rights-based, intersectional, and participatory approach is essential to achieving UHC – and health for all.