Social Protection and Universal Health Coverage (UHC)

The World Health Organization’s definition of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is that “all people can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship”’. UHC therefore involves key themes of equity, quality and effectiveness of services, and financial protection.

The WHO emphasises that achieving UHC is an ongoing process – a ‘’journey’’ – for all countries that involves continuing adaptation to changing health needs, health technologies, and capacities.

UHC is also a key development issue: latest estimates suggest 400 million people – especially women and children and vulnerable groups - lack access to essential health services, and 6 percent of people in developing countries are tipped into, or pushed further into extreme poverty because of health spending.

The pursuit of UHC – and social protection system-building more broadly – requires managing complex trade-offs. Through a series of country case studies, this work will examine the extent to which UHC policies are (should be?) pro-poor and equity promoting, as well as the linkages between UHC efforts and the extension of social protection.