Category: Issues

Audrey R. Chapman Recently, there has been a growing push for countries to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) in order to strengthen health systems and improve health equity and access to health services. UHC has been identified by some as the third global health transition—the first being public health improvements (such as basic sewage and sanitation) and the second being the epidemiological transition that reduced the toll of communicable diseases.[1]…

Continue reading “Editorial: The Contributions of Human Rights to Universal Health Coverage”

Audrey R. Chapman Recently, there has been a growing push for countries to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) in order to strengthen health systems and improve health equity and access to health services. UHC has been identified by some as the third global health transition—the first being public health improvements (such as basic sewage and sanitation) and the second being the epidemiological transition that reduced the toll of communicable diseases.[1]…

Continue reading “Editorial: The Contributions of Human Rights to Universal Health Coverage”

Antenor Hallo de Wolf and Brigit Toebes Abstract The goal of universal health coverage is to “ensure that all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship when paying for them.” There are many connections between this goal and the state’s legal obligation to realize the human right to health. In the context of this goal, it is important to assess private actors’ involvement in the health…

Continue reading “Assessing Private Sector Involvement in Health Care and Universal Health Coverage in Light of the Right to Health”

Antenor Hallo de Wolf and Brigit Toebes Abstract The goal of universal health coverage is to “ensure that all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship when paying for them.” There are many connections between this goal and the state’s legal obligation to realize the human right to health. In the context of this goal, it is important to assess private actors’ involvement in the health…

Continue reading “Assessing Private Sector Involvement in Health Care and Universal Health Coverage in Light of the Right to Health”

Claire Lougarre Abstract Five years ago, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution on universal health coverage, followed a year later by a resolution from the United Nations General Assembly. In these resolutions, states promised to deliver affordable health care for everyone, referring to notions of equity and human rights law, particularly a human right to health. However, the explosion of migration coupled with the post-2008 bleak economic climate have…

Continue reading “Using the Right to Health to Promote Universal Health Coverage: A Better Tool for Protecting Non-Nationals’ Access to Affordable Health Care?”

Dainius Puras In 1978, the Alma-Ata Declaration established a bold plan for global health action and social justice, identifying primary health care as the lynchpin for achieving health for all.[1] Several years later, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, responding to growing health challenges within industrialized societies, formally recognized underlying determinants as an integrated and vital part of health for all.[2] United Nations agencies, national governments, and a range of…

Continue reading “Foreword: Universal Health Coverage – A Return to Alma-Ata and Ottawa”

Toby Freeman, Fran Baum, Angela Lawless, Ronald Labonté, David Sanders, John Boffa, Tahnia Edwards, and Sara Javanparast Abstract Universal health coverage provides a framework to achieve health services coverage but does not articulate the model of care desired. Comprehensive primary health care includes promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative interventions and health equity and health as a human right as central goals. In Australia, Aboriginal community-controlled health services have pioneered comprehensive…

Continue reading “Case Study of an Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Service in Australia: Universal, Rights-Based, Publicly Funded Comprehensive Primary Health Care in Action”

Toby Freeman, Fran Baum, Angela Lawless, Ronald Labonté, David Sanders, John Boffa, Tahnia Edwards, and Sara Javanparast Abstract Universal health coverage provides a framework to achieve health services coverage but does not articulate the model of care desired. Comprehensive primary health care includes promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative interventions and health equity and health as a human right as central goals. In Australia, Aboriginal community-controlled health services have pioneered comprehensive…

Continue reading “Case Study of an Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Service in Australia: Universal, Rights-Based, Publicly Funded Comprehensive Primary Health Care in Action”