Universal Health Coverage Day

On 12 December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) unanimously endorsed a resolution urging countries to accelerate progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) – the idea that everyone, everywhere should have access to quality, affordable health care – as an essential priority for international development.

In 2014, the Universal Health Coverage Coalition started to celebrate 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 growing global movement for Health for All. 

On 12 December 2017, 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 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 imperative to create the world we want.

UHC Day 2021

The theme of UHC Day 2021 is "Leave No One’s Health Behind: Invest in health systems for all".

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed long-ignored risks, including inadequate health systems, gaps in social protection and structural inequalities. If we are to prevent future pandemics and achieve health and well-being for all by 2030, we must prioritize equity - investing more in health and allocating resources efficiently and equitably according to need. To that end, this year’s theme will be: “Leave No One’s Health Behind: Invest in health systems for all”. Our future depends on resilient health systems for everyone.

How to get involved

Find out how you can take action to support UHC, both on December 12^th and throughout the year. You can also learn about events organised by other partners around the world. The campaign site will be regularly updated with tools to support your campaigns in 2021.

Visit the UHC Day website

Role of UHC2030

UHC2030 has supported UHC Coalition partners to organise UHC Day events since our establishment in 2016. But our role is growing.

Another 2017 UNGA resolution also recognised UHC2030 as the most relevant group for providing support to Member States for developing and strengthening sustainable UHC initiatives at the national level. Building on this experience and mandate, UHC2030 is uniquely positioned to coordinate partners to organise around UHC Day across the world and is now spearheading these efforts.

Leading transparently and collaboratively, UHC2030 convenes and houses 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.

12.12.CG is responsible for developing the identity and campaign materials for UHC Day, building on the existing efforts of the UHC Coalition and other relevant initiatives for UHC.