Devex: Universal health coverage: Unique challenges, bold solutions
Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO assistant director general for Health Systems and Innovation

“…The [Universal Health Coverage (UHC)] target is the linchpin of the health-related [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)]; the one target that, if achieved, will help to deliver all the others by providing both population and person-centered high-quality services that are free at the point of delivery and designed to meet the realities of different people’s lives. … [A]ll countries [need] to find innovative ways to reshape their health systems. One of the first requirements will be a radical transformation of the health workforce. … A second major challenge is the ever-increasing price of medicines. … All nations will have to take steps to reform their health workforce and address the affordability of medicines. No one can afford a business-as-usual approach. … [I]f the world leaders who signed up to the SDGs are to deliver on their promises, they must be prepared to take bold action to deliver on UHC” (8/1).