Leadership for Universal Health Coverage initiative launches in Chad – May 2023

Nearly 30 million people in India could benefit from a series of practical initiatives being developed by the country’s first participants in the L4UHC programme.

During October 2022, L4UHC launched the regional cycle in Asia with a module in Bangkok, attended by delegations from Cambodia, Nepal, and Pakistan. Just a month later, L4UHC launched the regional cycle in Africa (francophone) with a Module in Tunis, attended by delegations from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

India is gearing up to join the L4UHC programme as part of its drive to accelerate UHC across the country’s 1.3 billion-strong population. Due to start the programme in September 2022, India will be the 15th country to take part in this initiative, underlining L4UHC’s growing popularity and value.

Nepal has made significant progress in improving drug availability. In this short video, Pukar Malla explains how L4UHC helped create a safe space to innovate, and the need to start small and think big.

Cameroon is politically committed to UHC but the different views of national stakeholders of how to achieve it have hindered progress. Better communication, aided by L4UHC, has made change possible.

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of leadership and a multi-sectoral approach – two of the key strengths L4UHC is fostering. But will governments heed the lessons and accelerate UHC’s roll-out?

UHC and health crisis management are two sides of the same coin, argues a blog from L4UHC’s partner, the World Bank. Governments need to honour their UHC commitments, it says.

Pakistan is making encouraging progress, but it still has a long way to go if UHC is to become truly ‘universal’ across the country, and not just confined to a few provinces.