Financing Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is a top foreign policy priority for Japan, which has for the first time put UHC on the agenda for G20 Finance Ministers and Leaders as part of its Presidency of the G20. Financing UHC is also core to the World Bank Group (WBG) agenda of investing in human capital, ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. UHC means that all people have access to quality, affordable health services -- but a new WBG report shows how insufficient, inefficient and inequitable health financing in most developing countries is putting the 2030 UHC targets under the Sustainable Development Goals out of reach – and also pushing millions into extreme poverty due to health expenses every year. At this event, WBG’s Senior Director for Health, Nutrition and Population, launched and introduced the main messages of the report High-Performance Financing for Universal Health Coverage: Driving Sustainable, Inclusive Growth in the 21th Century. The report was prepared to inform the first-ever joint session of G20 Finance and Health Ministers held on June 28 in Osaka as part of the G20 Summit.
Program
Opening Remarks
Keizo Takemi
Member of the House of Councillors, Japan (WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Universal Health Coverage)
Keynote speech
Tim Evans
Senior Director, Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice, World Bank
Presentation Material: High-Performance Health Financing for Universal Health Coverage (PDF)
Comments
Hideki Hashimoto
Professor, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo
