2024 UHC Day Annual Town Hall Summary: A conversation between youth and parliamentarians on UHC and financial protection

On 11 December 2024, one day before UHC Day, UHC2030, in collaboration with the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (CSEM), the World Health Assembly (WHO), the Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) and the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA), hosted the 2024 UHC Day campaign's annual youth-parliamentarian town hall. In alignment with this year's UHC Day theme, Health: it’s on the government, the town hall focused on the alarming level of financial hardship and impoverishment caused by direct payments for health services, as well as on the high financial barriers that lead to delayed and foregone care for too many people all around the globe.  

Dr. Pamela Cipriano, co-chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee and President of the International Council of Nurses, opened the event. Her remarks highlighted the staggering scale of financial hardship caused by health care costs—affecting 2 billion people worldwide and pushing 1.3 billion further into poverty. She framed this situation as both a health crisis and a human rights crisis, underlining the urgency of removing financial barriers to health care and ensuring equitable access for all. The UHC2030 co-chair called on parliamentarians and youth advocates to drive change through inclusive policies, equitable budgets and accountability, setting a tone of action and collaboration for the event. 

The town hall featured remarks by Ms. Sobita Gautam, Nepal’s youngest elected parliamentarian and 2023 One Young World Politician of the Year, as well as pre-recorded messages by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General, WHO and Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the IPU. The speakers in this opening segment emphasized the vital role of young people, who are not just advocates, but also future leaders and decision-makers, in policymaking. They also underscored how parliament’s public engagement is vital to understanding the lived realities of people, and the need for meaningful two-way dialogue to allow parliamentarians to craft solutions that respond to people’s real needs. 

During the panel discussion, Hon. Fauzia Khan, Member of Parliament of India, presented the progress India has made on UHC as well as the challenges people, especially young people, continue to face, such as socioeconomic and financial barriers to nutritional, mental health and sexual and reproductive health services. She highlighted the critical role of community health programs and community health workers in accelerating progress towards UHC and recognized that governments must allocate a large portion of their budget to the health sector.

Ms. Beatrice (Bea) Okech, Advocacy Communications and Campaigns Manager - Power to Youth, AMREF / Vice-Chair, Digital Engagement - Adolescent and Youth Constituency, PMNCH, shared her insights about the financial, social and structural barriers young people face when accessing healthcare, and emphasized that achieving UHC and financial protection does not just alleviate the immediate financial burden of health care, but also has a positive long-term impact on young people’s health, education and future. She stated that failing to invest in the health and well-being of young people will result in a future that is burdened by preventable disease, lower workforce participation and higher healthcare costs, and that decision-makers must engage with young people not as beneficiaries, but as equal partners in building a more equitable and just future. 

The town hall also featured a celebratory fireside chat between M. Diego Bustos Castillo, External Affairs Regional Assistant for the Americas 2024/2025, IFMSA and Dr. Mariam Jashi, Former Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, Global Board Member UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health, CEO, Global Sepsis Alliance. Diego shared his story and actions for UHC, and called on young UHC activists to: 

1. Be the leaders who embody genuine and legitimate frustration,
2. Raise public awareness through protest,
3. Understand the levels of government that hold the greatest influence, and
4. Reject the false dichotomy between protest and politics – and to embrace both.

Dr Jashi discussed the incredible value of effective advocacy strategies to accelerate action on UHC, and the importance of dialogue between advocates and parliamentarians to establish programs, laws and budgets that accelerate progress on UHC and financial protection. 

Following the panel discussion, participants were invited to participate in a Q&A, where they asked  panelists about how parliamentarians can ensure that young people as well as individuals from vulnerable and marginalized groups are actively included in shaping UHC policies that leave no one behind. Panelists responded by emphasizing that spaces for open dialogue between decision-makers and advocates must be created and sustained in order to achieve health for all.  

Watch the town hall recording below.