On 12 December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) unanimously endorsed a resolution urging countries to accelerate progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) as an essential priority for international development.
In 2014, the Universal Health Coverage Coalition started celebrating 12 December as UHC Day, to commemorate the date on which the UN General Assembly officially recognised the importance of UHC. Since then, the day has become the annual rallying point for the global movement for Health for All.
In 2017, the UNGA proclaimed 12 December as International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day) by resolution, making it an official UN-designated day.
UHC Day aims to raise awareness of the need for strong and resilient health systems and universal health coverage. Each year on 12.12, UHC advocates raise their voices to share the stories of the millions of people worldwide still waiting for health, to call on leaders to make bigger and smarter investments in health, and to remind the world that Health for All is a human right and an imperative to create equitable and resilient societies.
The UHC Day 2024 theme is "Health: It's on the government"
Investing in universal health coverage (UHC) improves equity and social cohesion. It also benefits the national economy by improving health and well-being, increasing workforce participation and productivity, and building resilience in individuals, families and communities.
In adopting the Sustainable Development Agenda in 2015, heads of state and governments from every country in the world committed to ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for everyone. They reiterated these commitments in the political declarations adopted during the 2019 and 2023 high level meetings on universal health coverage. And yet 4.5 billion people still do not have access to essential health services. What’s more, over the last 20 years, financial protection has progressively deteriorated, with 2 billion people experiencing financial hardship and 1.3 billion people pushed into poverty due to health spending.
This must change! This UHC Day we are calling on governments to invest in health for all and protect people – particularly the most vulnerable among us – from impoverishing health spending.
UHC2030's role
Since our establishment in 2016, UHC2030 has supported the organization of UHC Day events. But our role is growing.
Another 2017 UNGA resolution also recognised UHC2030 as the most relevant group to support to Member States in developing and strengthening sustainable UHC initiatives at the national level. Building on this experience and mandate, UHC2030 is uniquely positioned to coordinate partners around UHC Day across the world and is now leading these efforts.
Leading transparently and collaboratively, UHC2030 convenes a multi-stakeholder Coordination Group on International UHC Day (12.12.CG) that includes Member States, multilateral organisations, health-related initiatives, civil society, parliamentarians, philanthropic foundations, the private sector and academia.
The 12.12.CG is responsible for developing the identity and campaign materials for UHC Day, building on the existing efforts of other relevant UHC initiatives.
