www.thelancet.com Vol 385 April 4, 2015 e31 To achieve universal health coverage, a defi nition of what coverage everybody is guaranteed is needed. In view of the gap between what is medically possible and what is fi nancially feasible, some type of rationing is inevitable in all societies. So the decision is not about whether to prioritise, but how best to achieve this. However, this issue is ...

www.thelancet.com Vol 386 July 18, 2015 227 On Dec 12, 2012, a UN General Assembly Resolution was passed unanimously which called on all countries to move their health systems towards universal health coverage (UHC). Interestingly, this resolution was cosponsored by the USA—a country not known for having achieved this goal. With UHC now a common objective for all health systems, the debate is s...

This article studies how six key aid effectiveness principles for “Hitting the bull’s eye” can bring about the scale up of maternal and newborn health (MNH) interventions. These key principles are based on accepted international agreements such as the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The results indicate that the six principles should be a guide for recipient countries to take ownership ...

Achieving universal coverage – defined as access to needed health services without the associated risk of financial hardship (World Health Organization 2010) – is at the core of international discussion on strengthening health systems and the struggle to achieve the health MDGs. WHO’s most recent World Health Report (WHR) ‘Health systems financing: the path to universal coverage’ (World Health ...

Reproductive health services are crucial for maternal and child health, but universal health coverage is still not within reach in most societies. Ethiopia's goal of universal health coverage promises access to all necessary services for everyone while providing protection against financial risk. When moving towards universal health coverage, health plans and policies require contextualized kno...

Starting in the late 1980s, many Latin American countries began social sector reforms to alleviate poverty, reduce socioeconomic inequalities, improve health outcomes, and provide financial risk protection. In particular, starting in the 1990s, reforms aimed at strengthening health systems to reduce inequalities in health access and outcomes focused on expansion of universal health coverage, es...

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...

In this article, we highlight key considerations for better addressing sexual and reproductive health and rights issues within universal health coverage (UHC), particularly in the context of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. We look at UHC as a health, development and health care financing issue, and its history. We discuss its limitations as currently understood from a human rights...