Anchoring universal health coverage in the right to health: What difference would it make

Universal Health Coverage UHC is a critical component of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which include a specific health goal: “Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages”. Within this health goal, a specific target for UHC has been proposed: “Achieve UHC, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all”. In this context, the opportunity exists to unite global health and the fight against poverty through action that is focussed on clear goals. The underlying assumption of this paper is that efforts towards achieving UHC do promote some, but not necessarily all, of the efforts required from governments for the realization of the right to health. While this publication explores how efforts to advance towards UHC overlap with efforts to realize the right to health, its main focus is the gaps that exist between UHC efforts and right to health efforts.