Universal Health Coverage Day
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day on 12 December is the annual rallying point for the global movement for health for all. It marks the anniversary of the United Nations’ historic and unanimous endorsement of universal health coverage in 2012.
On 12 December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) unanimously endorsed a resolution urging countries to accelerate progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) as an essential priority for international development.
In 2014, the Universal Health Coverage Coalition started celebrating 12 December as UHC Day, to commemorate the date on which the UN General Assembly officially recognised the importance of UHC. Since then, the day has become the annual rallying point for the global movement for Health for All.
In 2017, the UNGA proclaimed 12 December as International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day) by resolution, making it an official UN-designated day.
UHC Day aims to raise awareness of the need for strong and resilient health systems and universal health coverage. Each year on 12.12, UHC advocates raise their voices to share the stories of the millions of people worldwide still waiting for health, to call on leaders to make bigger and smarter investments in health, and to remind the world that Health for All is a human right and an imperative to create equitable and resilient societies.
The 2026 UHC Day theme is “Affordable health care, right here, right now!”
More than half of the world’s population still lacks access to essential health services and over 2.1 billion people face financial hardship when paying for health care out of their own pockets, often at the expense of other essentials, such as food, education or housing.
The 2026 UHC Day campaign calls on governments to take immediate action to remove barriers to care, meet people’s health needs and protect them from unaffordable health costs.
UHC2030's role
Since our establishment in 2016, UHC2030 has supported the organization of UHC Day events. But our role is growing.
Another 2017 UNGA resolution also recognised UHC2030 as the most relevant group to support Member States in developing and strengthening sustainable UHC initiatives at the national level. Building on this experience and mandate, UHC2030 is uniquely positioned to coordinate partners around UHC Day across the world and is now leading these efforts.
Leading transparently and collaboratively, UHC2030 convenes a multi-stakeholder Coordination Group on International UHC Day (12.12.CG) that includes Member States, multilateral organisations, health-related initiatives, civil society, parliamentarians, philanthropic foundations, the private sector and academia.
The 12.12.CG is responsible for developing the identity and campaign materials for UHC Day, building on the existing efforts of other relevant UHC initiatives.
