To mark Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day this year, IAPO is organizing a webinar in collaboration with the IAPO Patients for Patient Safety Observatory to provide a-state-of-the-art overview of the commitments and conclusions from the United Nations High-Level Meeting (UN HLM) as a way forward for countries to achieve UHC. The webinar will also offer a platform to discuss how patients, caregivers and patient advocates can engage in advocacy and implementation of UHC commitments at regional and national levels.

Scheduled for Wednesday, 13 December 2023, 12:00 to 13:30 GMT, the webinar "Universal health coverage: How can patients engage?" will convene patients, patient advocates, youth advocates, and UHC campaigners in a virtual, 90-minute session.

Panellists include:

• Nicola Bedlington, Founding Partner, Millwater Partners & Former Secretary General,  European Patients' Forum & other patient-led initiatives
• Justin Koonin, Co-chair of UHC2030 & President, ACON - Australia & Adjunct Associate Professor, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales & Distinguished Fellow and Honorary Professorial Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health
• Marjolaine Nicod, Coordinator, UHC2030 at World Health Organization
• Ellos Lodzeni, Chair, International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations
• Neda Milevska Kostova, Immediate Past Chair, International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations

The webinar will be in English with simultaneous interpretation to Spanish.

As a background, in 2017 the United Nations (UN) declared 12 December as International Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day a time where we had high-level commitment made to the UHC vision that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. This commitment was further endorsed in 2019 at the United Nations High-Level Meeting (UN HLM) where Member States agreed to ensure that by 2030 everyone in their country will receive the quality health services they need without suffering financial hardship.

In January 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) reaffirmed commitments to UHC that were presented and endorsed at the High-level Meeting (HLM) of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Universal Health Coverage in September 2023, where IAPO was present representing the patient voice [maybe add Neda's name?].

The case for UHC is clear. It ensures all patients, everywhere, can get the quality health services they need without financial hardship. It is key to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals and to coping with the health, humanitarian and climate crises our world is facing.

Join us at the webinar where we will share our perspective on why the achievement of UHC is only viable if based on a whole-of-society approach, where social participation mechanisms are in place to ensure that patients, caregivers, patient advocates and civil society have a say in decisions related to their health.