UNAIDS highlights the critical need to involve civil society and communities in all aspects of universal health coverage to ensure no one is left behind.
NEW YORK/GENEVA, 23 September 2019: UNAIDS welcomes the strong commitment made by United Nations Member States to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030. Member States reaffirmed their commitment to achieving universal health coverage at the first high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Universal Health Coverage, held in New York, USA, on 23 September. During the meeting, United Nations Member States adopted a political declaration on universal health coverage, reaffirming the right of all people to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health as an integral part of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In the worrying context of shrinking civic space, UNAIDS is encouraged by the call made by Member States in the political declaration to involve civil society in health system governance, health policies, and the review process for universal health coverage. The participation of civil society and communities worldwide will be critical to ensuring the overall success of universal health coverage.
“We strongly urge governments to invest in the leadership and capacities of diverse communities, especially those that are underrepresented,” said Gunilla Carlsson, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “To reach further, universal health coverage needs to engage communities and prioritize rights-based and transformative approaches. This will ensure equity in access to health services, deliver people-centered outcomes, and eliminate health disparities.”
UNAIDS is committed to enabling communities, particularly vulnerable communities, to participate in health planning, implementation, and monitoring. As part of this work, UNAIDS has collaborated with partners on the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Wellbeing for All to ensure the full participation of communities and civil society in achieving universal health coverage. The global action plan will be launched in New York on September 24.
UNAIDS also welcomes the commitment of Member States to leave no one behind, including children, young people, persons with disabilities, people living with HIV, older persons, indigenous people, refugees, internally displaced persons, and migrants. UNAIDS also urges Member States to reach groups particularly affected by HIV, including sex workers, gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgender persons, people who inject drugs, prisoners, and people in conflict situations, to ensure that even the most marginalized are reached with health services.
The political declaration on universal health coverage acknowledges that current efforts to achieve universal health coverage are inadequate, and that at least half of the world's population lacks access to essential health services. Currently, more than 800 million people have to spend at least 10% of their household income on healthcare, and an estimated 100 million people are pushed into poverty each year through out-of-pocket health-related expenses.
UNAIDS welcomes the commitment of Member States in the political declaration to halt the rise and reverse the trend of catastrophic health expenditures and applauds the commitment to progressively cover an additional one billion people with quality health services by 2023 with a view to covering everyone by 2030.
UNAIDS supports Member States' commitment to ensuring sufficient domestic public spending on health, expanding quality essential health services, strengthening health systems, and providing adequate, predictable, informed, and sustainable financing to support national efforts to achieve universal health coverage. UNAIDS will continue to advocate for increased funding for health and for essential HIV prevention and treatment services to be included in health service delivery packages.
In addition to the commitment of Member States to achieve universal health coverage, they also reaffirmed the strong commitments made in the Political Declaration on the Eradication of AIDS, which was adopted by Member States in June 2016. In the Political Declaration on the Eradication of AIDS, Member States acknowledge that progress in the protection and promotion of the human rights of people living with, at risk of, and affected by HIV has not been adequate, and they have committed to reviewing and reforming legislation that may create barriers or reinforce stigma and discrimination.
“Legal barriers must be removed to ensure that the right to health is respected,” Carlsson said. “The AIDS response has been based on a commitment to human rights, gender equality, and non-discrimination, and the needs of key populations must be met.”
Progress in the AIDS response and the achievement of universal health coverage are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. Both will contribute to achieving the health-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, including ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations: UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, and the World Bank, and works closely with global and national partners to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
In: https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2019/september/20190923_UHC