World Health Day focuses on Universal Health Coverage

Ludhiana, April 8, 2018: A regional organized to mark the World Health Day 2018 by the World Health Organization Country Office for India and Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana made a strong call for ensuring universal health coverage (UHC).

The World Health Day programme has been organized as part of the 22nd Annual Conference of North Zone Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine and the 13TH Annual Conference of IAPSM, Punjab Chapter-2018.

On the occasion of the World Health Day 2018, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region has said that the promise of UHC is bold: that all people can access quality health services, when and where they need them, without suffering financial hardship.

"Healthier populations in turn create more productive economies that raise living standards. UHC will help achieve a healthier, more equitable and secure South-East Asia Region," she added.

"Achieving UHC has the potential to contribute to India's social and economic growth," says Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India.

Commending the government for its recent bold initiatives, Dr Bekedam said, “India is firmly and steadily moving forward on the path to UHC and WHO as a partner is committed to working with the government and other stakeholders in successfully navigating this journey towards a Swastha and Samriddha Bharat (Healthy and Prosperous India).”

The event focused on deliberating on the various facets of UHC with respect to health financing and insurance; prevention and control of non-communicable diseases; child and adolescent health; controlling communicable diseases and gender.

The event was attended by subject matter experts, representatives from the WHO, and other key stakeholders. These experts included Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, National professional Officer – Universal Health Coverage. Experts said:

India on the path to UHC
The union budget has enunciated the landmark 'Ayushman Bharat' programme, which aims at addressing health holistically through two components: (i) the National Health Protection Mission (NHPM) will cover 100 million poor and vulnerable families up to INR 500 000 per year for secondary and tertiary care, and (ii) strengthening primary health care through 150 000 Health & Wellness Centres.

These twin initiatives are programmatic follow-up of the policy road-map provided by

India's National Health Policy 2017, which clearly articulates UHC as a goal. The successful implementation of these programmes would accelerate India's journey towards ensuring health for all, especially, the most vulnerable who are pushed into poverty due to high out-of-pocket health expenditures.