Quick Take: What is UHC Day?

This time of year has no shortage of important occasions, but here’s one more date worth noting. December 12 is UHC Day, a moment when the global health community takes stock of its progress toward universal health coverage, or UHC.

Sometimes referred to as “health for all,” UHC is the optimal state where no one is denied access to healthcare because it’s too expensive or unavailable. December 12 marks the day in 2012 when the United Nations unanimously passed a resolution urging countries to accelerate their progress toward this standard.

But ten years since that historic bit of fanfare, many countries are still a long way from reaching universal access to health services, says Osondu Ogbuoji, MBBS, deputy director of DGHI’s Center for Policy Impact in Global Health (CPIGH).

“It’s one of those goals that everyone likes and no one can fight against, but it’s also nebulous and so difficult for people to achieve,’ Ogbuoji says in a Quick Take video explaining the importance of UHC Day. “What ends up happening is that people who are marginalized -- people who live on the edges of society, the poor – tend not to get those services.”

And while access remains a challenge for many low- and middle-income countries, it’s also true for vulnerable populations in wealthier countries. Ogbuoji notes, for example, that millions of Americans are uninsured or underinsured, creating barriers to affording essential healthcare.

“It’s not all beautiful stories for high-income countries. There’s still a llot of work to do, especially for people who are living in poverty in those countries,” he says.

Ogbuoji and several CPIGH colleagues hope to draw attention to those gaps during the second International Conference on Public Health in Africa, taking place Dec. 13-15 in Kigali, Rwanda. The Duke team is joining forces with the Africa Centers for Disease Control to host a pre-conference panel on the status of UHC for children across the continent.

“We want to draw attention to the fact that many children do not have access to these services and learn from countries on the continent that have been successful in solving this problem, he says, noting that the conference’s host country, Rwanda, offers an inspiring model of progress for expanding access to health services.

And if anyone is still looking for that perfect last-minute gift for UHC Day, Ogbuoji knows just what he’d ask for.

“UHC for all, especially for children,” he says. “That’s what I want.”