FEATURING
• Dinesh Arora, Sommer Scholar (MPH), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Former Deputy CEO, National Health Authority, India
• Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, Director of Technical Coordination, Ministry of Health, Ghana
• Hakiba Solange, Deputy Director, Rwanda Social Security Board
• Suwit Wibulpolprasert, Global Health Advisor, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
MODERATOR
• Amanda Glassman, Executive Vice President and Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development
ABOUT THE EVENT
The commitments laid out in the 2019 United Nations High Level Meeting Declaration on Universal Health Coverage are many and wide-ranging. Through this declaration, countries have recommitted to achieving UHC by 2030, yet there has been little discussion on how such an ambitious agenda can be reached given modest domestic resource mobilization gains and upcoming transitions in health and development aid. While the UHC agenda must be ambitious, there is a clear need for low and lower-middle income countries to prioritize within it in order to have the biggest impact possible. Health financing for UHC requires commitment from across government to prioritize health in the global budget, and to ensure that the money allocated across health buys the greatest impact. Considering the scope of health packages a country could invest in, it is essential to prioritize limited resources both in terms of what should be tackled first and what can be achieved in the next decade. The session will draw on the expertise of panelists from government to reflect on whether and how countries could finance the commitments made to UHC by 2030.
This event is organized by CGD’s international Decision Support Initiative (iDSI), a global network of experts and policy makers that work together to empower countries to make effective, efficient and equitable decisions for health resource allocation. We will host an informal reception following the discussion.