Nurses responding to the World Health Organization (WHO) priority for emergency care systems for universal health coverage

Priority-setting for achieving universal health coverage

Governments in low- and middle-income countries are legitimizing the implementation of universal health coverage (UHC), following a United Nation's resolution on UHC in 2012 and its reinforcement in the sustainable development goals set in 2015. UHC will differ in each country depending on country contexts and needs, as well as demand and supply in health care. Therefore, fundamental issues suc...

Health systems organization for emergency care.

The increasing number of acute and severe digestive diseases presenting to hospital emergency departments, mainly related with an ageing population, demands an appropriate answer from health systems organization, taking into account the escalating pressure on cost reduction. However, patients expect and deserve a response that is appropriate, effective, efficient and safe. The huge variety of v...

Universal Health Coverage for Schizophrenia: A Global Mental Health Priority

The growing momentum towards a global consensus on universal health coverage, alongside an acknowledgment of the urgency and importance of a comprehensive mental health action plan, offers a unique opportunity for a substantial scale-up of evidence-based interventions and packages of care for a range of mental disorders in all countries. There is a robust evidence base testifying to the effecti...

Community Health Workers: A Priority for Universal Health Coverage?

Universal health coverage, health systems strengthening, and the World Bank

T he sustainable development goals (SDGs) formally promote universal health coverage as a key objective for the global health community. This focus on universal health coverage arose both from a desire to maintain the health gains achieved by the millennium development goals and from criticism that those goals were short term in nature and narrowly focused on disease specific approaches. 2 On 1...