World Health Day 2018 Aims At Achieving Universal Health Coverage For Everyone

Every year, April 7 is observed is World Health Day. The day is celebrated in order to make people aware of the fact that they are entitled to the highest possible level of health as their right. For over 70 years, the World Health Organisation has "health for all" as their guiding vision. The driving force behind this has also been to encourage countries move towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The past experiences are a testimony to the fact that Universal Health Coverage can be achieved only when countries have a strong political will.
 

World Health Day 2018 theme

With the onset of the 70th anniversary of World Health Day, WHO calls out to leaders of the world to live up the goals they pledged in Sustainable Development Goals in 2014. This year, the idea to take concrete and progressive steps in order to make advancements in the health conditions of people. The idea, this World Health Day, is to ensure that people all across the world can have access to good quality of health services without facing any financial restrictions.

This year, WHO will focus on UHC through a series of events to be organised throughout the year, starting on World Health Day on April 7. These events will feature both local and global discussions and agendas about ways to achieve health for all on the basis of equality.

Relevance of universal health coverage

A generous amount of investment needs to be made in the human capital of counties who in invest in UHC. UHC has been the main strategy to progress towards achieving broader development and health-related goals. Having access to good quality of health care and financial holding helps have better health and longer life expectancy. It also prevents incidence of epidemics, reduces poverty and risk of hunger. Having access to good health and financial holding leads to creation of jobs, enhances economic growth and gender quality.

World Health Day significance

WHO states that almost half of the world's population does not have access to quality health care services. In such a scenario, an occasion like World Health Day helps in raising awareness about the need for something like a UHC and its numerous benefits. The aim to have a World Health Day is to ensure that nobody should have to make a choice between death and financial hardship. The idea behind holding discussions, meeting and awareness campaigns on this day is to make sure that nobody has to choose between buying food and buying medicines in their entire life.

The idea is to motivate, inspire and guide countries who have invested in UHC to be committed to the cause. This can be done by sharing examples of how countries have progressed towards UHC and motivating other countries to join the bandwagon; by bringing the policy makers of UHC under the limelight and how they worked towards bringing a transformation in the health sector in their country; by providing infrastructure to countries to have a structured policy dialogue on how to make advancements in UHC locally and helping other countries in the same.