On 21 September 2023, the UN High Level meeting (HLM) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) will take place in New York, to “renew efforts and accelerate progress toward achieving health for all”. 

Universal Healthcare means that all people receive the health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while at the same time ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship.

This is the first high level meeting on UHC after the COVID-19 pandemic as the UN continues its push towards UHC by 2030. The political declaration on UHC prepared for the HLM acknowledges that significant progress still needs to be made and notes with concern the losses incurred during recent years as well as the insufficient pace towards improved UHC targets.

However, there are few propositions towards urgently needed measures to address the wide gaps, and few changes proposed to adapt strategies to past failures and to the current context. 

The information presented in this report is based on the country experiences of 20 separate contexts where MSF is operational.

We compiled the report by using country-level information obtained from our field teams, Ministries of Health, Civil Society organisations, combined with available academic and grey literature. Read the executive summary and full report below.