To mark UHC Day 2018, NCD Alliance has revised and re-released its briefing paper emphasising the mutally reinforcing agenda of NCDs and Universal Health Coverage.

This updated version reflects the developments in both the NCD response and UHC agenda since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. An update to NCDA’s 2014 brief UHC and NCDs: A mutually reinforcing agenda, it makes the case for including NCDs in national UHC benefit packages in order to fully achieve the 2030 Agenda target of healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages.

Among other things, the new brief finds that UHC can strengthen the NCD response by:

• Providing health services – Increasing health systems’ capacity to respond to NCDs;
• Covering populations – Addressing inequalities in the NCD burden;
• Covering costs – Alleviating the economic burden of NCDs.

2019 High-Level Meeting on UHC

2018 is the first year that UHC Day has been formally recognised by the United Nations. It comes 10 months before the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage, scheduled for the 2019 General Assembly, on 26 September.

This year’s UHC Day, themed 'Unite for Universal Health Coverage: Now is the Time for Collective Action', emphasises the critical importance of strong health systems to reduce poverty, promote economic growth and achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.