a recent editorial by naoki ikegami has proposed three key lessons from japan’s experience of achieving virtually universal coverage with primary healthcare services: the need to integrate the existing providers of primary healthcare services into the organised health system; the need to limit government commitments to finance hospital services and the need to empower providers of primary healt...

the world health organization’s (who’s) world health report 2010, “health systems financing, the path to universal coverage,” promoted universal health coverage (uhc) as an aspirational objective for country health systems. yet, in addition to the dimensions of services and coverage, distribution of coverage in the population, and financial risk protection highlighted by the report, the conside...

universal health coverage in thailand: achievement and experiences learned doshmangir l1,2 (msc, phd), rashidian a3,4 (md, phd), bazyar m3* (msc, phd condidate) 1 department of health services management, iranian center of exellence in health management, tabriz university of medical sciences, tabriz, iran 2 tabriz health services management research center, tabriz university of medical sciences...

Unless the concept is clearly understood, "universal coverage" (or universal health coverage, UHC) can be used to justify practically any health financing reform or scheme. This paper unpacks the definition of health financing for universal coverage as used in the World Health Organization's World health report 2010 to show how UHC embodies specific health system goals and intermediate objectiv...

this article provides a commentary to ole norheim’ s editorial entitled “ethical perspective: five unacceptable trade-offs on the path to universal health coverage.” it reinforces its message that an inclusive, participatory process is essential for ethical decision-making and underlines the crucial importance of good governance in setting fair priorities in healthcare. solidarity on both natio...

The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) World Health Report 2010, “Health systems financing, the path to universal coverage,” promoted universal health coverage (UHC) as an aspirational objective for country health systems. Yet, in addition to the dimensions of services and coverage, distribution of coverage in the population, and financial risk protection highlighted by the report, the conside...

the focus on public policy and health equity is discussed in reference to the current global health policy discussion on universal health coverage (uhc). this initiative has strong commitment from the leadership of the international organizations involved, but a lack of policy clarity outside of the health financing component may limit the initiative’s impact on health inequity. in order to add...

UHC is a priority topic in global health. It is one of the targets in the sustainable development goals, and considered the main approach that cuts across all program areas and SDG health targets. Two previous meetings have been held at the Bellagio Center (Measurement of trends and equity in coverage of health interventions in the context of universal health coverage, September 17-21 2012, and...

This country case study is part of the Universal Health Coverage Collection. The World Health Organization defines universal health coverage (UHC) as a situation in which all people who need health services receive them, without incurring financial hardship [1]. UHC is currently perceived as a crucial component of sustainable development and listed as one of the possible goals of the post-2015 ...