Universal Health Coverage Day 2023: Date, Theme, History, Significance And More

Health care for everyone, everywhere. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day is commemorated on December 12 each year so that nations can recommit to the United Nations’ resolution calling for universal accessibility to health care. The concept covers three key elements - access, quality, and financial protection.

On December 12, 2012, the United Nations unanimously endorsed a historic resolution urging all countries to work towards UHC as an essential priority for international development.

On December 12, 2017, the UN proclaimed December 12 as International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day). This day serves as a reminder to governments, leaders, policy-makers and all stakeholders that health is a fundamental right and concerted action is needed to create equitable healthcare systems.

The UN high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage held recently reaffirmed that healthy people are the foundation of healthy societies and economies. UN statistics reveal that half of the world’s population does not have access to essential health services, while an estimated 2 billion people face financial hardships due to out-of-pocket health expenses, including 344 million people living in extreme poverty. With climate change and the increased risk of pandemics posing the biggest threat, it is vital that countries invest in stronger healthcare systems. 

The theme this year is ‘Health for All: Time for Action’. With the Covid-19 pandemic derailing health services and increasing the inequities in healthcare access, this year’s theme highlights the pressing need for UHC. It calls for urgent and tangible steps to get progress back on track so that universal health coverage becomes a reality by 2030.

India has been working towards achieving the goals of UHC. Among several other initiatives, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) was launched in 2018 to make affordable healthcare accessible to the poorest section of the population. It aims to provide the poorest 40% of the population that comprises over 50 crore people with an insurance cover of 5 lakh per family per year to protect them from health expenditure incurred in secondary and tertiary care.