Delivering Universal Health Coverage: A Guide for Policymakers
David Nicholson Robert Yates Will Warburton Gianluca Fontana
UHC also known as UHC (Universal Health Coverage) is a concept that ensures that people obtain their health treatments whilst being protected from the financial burden that these services bring. Despite this being a simple concept, birthing a successful UHC unit can be challenging. This is why these paper aims to translate the idea of UHC to policy practitioners and government officials who do not have a medical background.
Ensuring access to effective, quality health services, without the fear of financial hardship, is a basic human right. Through the leadership of several key international organizations, including the World Bank and the World Health Organization, there is now a growing global movement towards universal health coverage (UHC). This trend is essential if we are to support the one billion people who currently live without access to healthcare services and the hundreds of millions who are forced into poverty annually by out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure. The Universal Health Coverage Forum will focus on creating a robust, yet accessible framework laying out the key questions that senior policymakers should consider when attempting the implementation of UHC.
Sir David Nicholson
Sir David Nicholson was Chief Executive of the National Health Service (NHS) in England from September 2006 to March 2013. From October 2011 to March 2014 he was the first Chief Executive of NHS England, the body responsible for overseeing over £100bn NHS funding per annum to improve quality and secure the best possible outcomes for people. Sir David retired from the NHS in March 2014 following a career spanning over 35 years. He held senior leadership positions in acute and mental health services, and at four regional health authorities, including London. He was awarded the CBE in 2004 and was knighted in 2010, both for his services to the NHS. In 2014 he was appointed as an Adjunct Professor of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London and also Chair of Universal Health Coverage Forum, World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH).
