Engaging communities: the key to leaving no one behind in the era of UHC.
In the long history of global health efforts, universal health coverage (UHC) holds the promise of reframing the global health agenda by encompassing both the goal of “Health for All” as well as the principle of the right to health, underpinned by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in which the goal of UHC is firmly located. The right to health means not only equity in access, availability, acceptability and quality of health services but the inclusion of financial protection mechanisms so that households are not impoverished through the act of accessing necessary health care. Equity in access, we argue, includes paying attention to the sexual and reproductive health and rights needs and challenges of marginalised groups which historically have not been adequately met, yet present an opportunity for the most far-reaching and sustainable investments we can make to health in developing countries.
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