Universal health coverage and NCD prevention and control

Abstract

This chapter describes universal health coverage (UHC) as more of a political than a technical construct. The chapter describes the three key dimensions of UHC: population coverage, service coverage and proportion of costs covered, indicating that achieving UHC means that all people would have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. UHC includes health protection and promotion, as well as disease prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care, across the life course. The chapter describes the key issues around UHC that need to be addressed to improve NCD outcomes. NCD prevention, treatment and care at the population and individual levels should be a key component of a UHC priority benefits package in all countries and the chapter also looks at the steps required to ensure that NCDs are incorporated into a country’s UHC priority benefit package. The chapter also reviews partnerships that have been established to promote UHC as well as ways of monitoring progress towards UHC, including the tracer conditions used for NCDs as part of UHC.