New York, 23 September 2019: IFPMA congratulates the United Nations General Assembly in holding the first-ever high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and welcomes the adoption of the Political Declaration on UHC at its 74th session.
IFPMA and its members welcome the declaration’s call to address healthcare in a holistic way and the elevation of health discussions beyond the ministries of health. We support the emphasis on “the importance of national ownership and the primary role and responsibility of governments at all levels to determine their own path towards achieving universal health coverage, in accordance with national contexts and priorities, and underscore the importance of political leadership for universal health coverage beyond the health sector in order to pursue whole-of government and whole-of-society approaches, as well as health-in-all-policies approaches, equity- based approaches and life-course approaches.”(Para 6)
UHC is a journey unique to each country’s needs and priorities, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Each country must deploy necessary resources to achieve them and must prioritize which health services to cover, what beneficiary population groups to cover, how to pay for those services, and how to ensure effective and efficient delivery in consultation with stakeholders. Regardless of a country’s unique needs, no single organization or sector can achieve UHC on its own and in recognition of the need to move together towards achieving UHC, we are committed to playing our part.
As a partner of the UHC 2030 global movement, IFPMA and its members reinforce the private sector’s commitments to achieving universal health coverage and fully support the Key Asks and the Global Compact, which outlines five key principles to guide collective action towards UHC. IFPMA and its members strongly believe that an enabling environment is fundamental to UHC – one that works towards strengthening quality primary health care, investing more and better in health and improving access to affordable and quality-assured essential health products.
IFPMA firmly believes that collaborative and innovative action on UHC is needed to meet our shared goals of expanding patient access to medicines and achieving the long-term sustainability of the health sector. Together, UHC and life sciences innovation promotes continued global health progress and well-being for all. We remain committed to playing our part to help Member States achieve UHC and look forward to constructive and inclusive dialogue to ensure implementation.
