Nearly 300 civil society organizations working in global health are lobbying United Nations member states to undo proposed changes in the measurement of universal health coverage as part of the newly approved Sustainable Development Goals.
Advocates who had pushed for the UHC to be included in the SDGs now say the revised indicator won’t accurately capture what proportion of the population is able to access health care without suffering financially.
Among those concerned are World Health Organization Assistant Director-General Marie-Paul Kieny and World Bank Vice President for Human Development Keith Hansen, who expressed “major reservations” on the revised proposed indicator in a letter addressed to the director of the U.N. Statistics Division and the co-chairs of an Inter Agency Expert Group on the SDGs. In a letter seen by Devex, they argue that the new indicator is “not a valid measure of financial risk protection.”
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
