Nepal boosts drug availability
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.
NEWS & EVENTS
COUNTRY AND PARTNER NEWS
The value of communication
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.
Will COVID-19 accelerate UHC?
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?
Time to honour commitments
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 makes headway
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.
L4UHC rolls out in Asia
Sri Lanka’s response to a terrorist attack in 2019 provided a textbook example of leadership and management, which L4UHC is now supporting in Asia.
OTHER INSIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Study reveals global UHC shortfall
A new study published in The Lancet projects that 3.1 billion people will still lack effective health service coverage in 2023, with 968 million living in South Asia. This falls short of the WHO goal of 1 billion more people benefiting from UHC between 2019 and 2023.
Value of collaboration between sectors highlighted
Closer collaboration between the sectors dealing with food, water, air, and human health is needed to achieve UHC, according to a major report launched by The Access Challenge and Harvard Global Health Institute.
Pakistan re-focuses on essential health during COVID
Although Pakistan is committed to UHC, many services for illnesses that are unrelated to COVID-19 have stopped, with multiple primary health care services on hold. The country is now working with the WHO and other partners to re-focus on essential health care, such as maternal and newborn health services.
Could self-care interventions boost UHC’s reach?
Self-care interventions, such as home HIV testing, could increase UHC by lessening the workload for health workers, and reaching people who either can’t access or don’t want to come into health facilities.
What is the ‘new normal’ for UHC?
COVID-19 calls for a renewed and urgent focus on specific public health actions as the first step towards UHC, claims a World Bank blog. This includes special attention to common goods for health, such as disease surveillance, laboratories and diagnosis, and behaviour-change communication.
Equity and accountability are vital for preventing pandemics
Access to quality healthcare, free at the point of use for everyone, has proven to be a game changer for countries’ ability to contain infectious disease outbreaks, according to Chatham House.
PROGRAMME UPDATES
Adapting L4UHC to a COVID world
We’re looking at new ways to deliver our programme in the context of travel bans and social distancing, and how we can adapt the programme’s content and methodology to support the country teams in responding to the crisis.
Integrating gender into country actions
How can you ensure that your country initiatives are gender equitable and inclusive? Our new paper on this issue highlights some of the key questions you need to ask.
EVENTS
Annual Health Financing Forum
The Fifth Annual Health Financing Forum (AHFF) will take place virtually for the first time since the series began in 2016. This year, the AHFF is part of the COVID-19 Health Financing Resilience Program (COVID-19 HFRP).
Read more >
All in-person L4UHC events on hold
We’ve inevitably had to postpone all in-person L4UHC events due to the virus. We’ll keep you posted of our plans to continue to support you, either virtually or by rescheduling meetings, once the situation becomes clearer.