Essay on Universal Health Care (UHC)

Universal health care (UHC) has gained global popularity since its breakthrough in the 1978 Alma-Atta Declaration as a reflection of socioeconomic development. UHC is characterized by the slogan ‘‘Health for all,’’ which highlights national health systems, whereby all citizens have access to quality health services with minimal financial implications (Amartya 7). Different nations have established substantial efforts into achieving universal health care aided by technological development, improvement of personnel, allocation of funds, and improvement of health facilities (Morgan, Ensor, and Waters 609). The support and emphasis bestowed on UHC indicate the importance of achieving a better system of providing healthcare for all. Enabling UHC is fundamental to improving health outcome to everyone in the world, as it will allow all citizens to access affordable healthcare while recognizing health as a fundamental human right.

UHC is a vital health care proposal, as it considers equality essence in society regardless of social class disparities. Phillips believes that everyone should access health care adequately so as to live a standard life, as this care will enhance his or her well-being, as well as that of their family, and that a proper life should encompass necessary life fundamentals such as food and shelter, including other social services (12). Furthermore, the Alma-Atta declaration commits nations to treat issues on healthcare as part of human rights that should be enjoyed by all citizens and not only the wealthy people. Additionally, McCollum et al. explain that UHC should be aimed at providing a healthcare delivery system to a defined population in an equitable, affordable, and sustainable manner regardless of their financial status (65). Consequently, substantive evidence of UHC utilization exists throughout the world. Nowadays, all nations provide their citizens with some form of health care relief. The topic of healthcare financing has become so sensitive that it is incorporated as a political agenda for most aspiring politicians and is regarded as a political gamechanger. However, it is overt that healthcare should be centered on human existence rather than political motives in order to foster a healthy society. In this sense, healthcare will be treated equally to developmental issues, enabling every person to access healthcare in any part of the world.

A gap currently exists regarding the link between healthcare coverage improvement and health quality. Nevertheless, studies conducted in Cuba showed great evidence of a connection between improvements in the health sector and a sharp, steady decrease in perinatal and neonatal morbidity and mortality rates, as well as a significant improvement of life quality and the general life expectancy (Drain and Barry 573). Furthermore, the expansion of immunization programs to cover most of the communicable diseases and provision of free vaccinations for the most vulnerable in the population has reduced the disease burden resulting from non-communicable diseases (Bloom, Victoria, and Sevilla 21). Consequently, expanded vaccination programs have demonstrated a global potential for significant reductions in the cost of health care. The economic merits of improving the population’s health through vaccinations include an increase in school enrollments, a better workforce, a reduction in the development of drug-resistant species of diseases, and low instances of active infections following exposures.

Besides the improvement of health, the achievement of UHC can lead to significant economic developments. Moreover, Bloom, Victoria, and Sevilla denote that enhancing healthcare provision in the country can improve other production factors required for the growth of a nation, such as labor availability, schooling, capital buildup, and fertility regulation (10). It is explicit from this finding that individual’s financial prowess has a significant effect regarding the likelihood of registering into healthcare programs. Leading on from this analysis, people will have an option to accumulate wealth their own way and then use part of it in gaining essential healthcare. Furthermore, the development of programs aimed at training and recruiting community-based health workers is another strategy that can be used to reduce the cost of health care. This approach can increase the number of community health volunteers who have been widely used in low and middle-income regions to offer skilled health services for free (Sen 2). Significant outcomes can be obtained from this strategy, as it can enhance community nutrition status, foster maternal and child health, assist in HIV prevention and treatment, and promote chronic illnesses screening. Moreover, these group of healthcare providers has improved healthcare accessibility to the household level, leading enhanced health among the public.

In conclusion, UHC treats healthcare as a fundamental right for every human being, which can be achieved by making it affordable for everyone. This way, people’s health will improve, thereby enhancing their development input. The principal incentive for the UHC agenda is the conviction that improved access to health care is a fundamental human right that improves social equality and life quality, thanks to Alma-Atta Declaration. Enabling UHC will promote healthcare quality among the public, thereby enhancing their productivity. In addition, UHC appears to solve health disparities in society in some way, even if there is explicit social categorization. On the whole, UHC improves healthcare accessibility throughout the world, enabling people to obtain medical health at any time.

Works cited

Bloom, David E., Victoria Y. Fan, and J. P. Sevilla. “The Broad Socioeconomic Benefits of Vaccination.” Science Translational Medicine, vol. 10, no. 441, 2018.

Drain, Paul K., and Michele Barry. “Fifty Years of US Embargo: Cuba’s Health Outcomes and Lessons.” Science, vol. 328, no. 5978, 2010, pp. 572-573.

McCollum, Rosalind, et al. “Healthcare Equity Analysis: Applying the Tanahashi Model of Health Service Coverage to Community Health Systems Following Devolution in Kenya.” International Journal for Equity in Health, vol. 18, no. 1, 2019, pp. 65.

Morgan, Rosemary, Tim Ensor, and Hugh Waters. “Performance of private sector health care: implications for universal health coverage.” The Lancet, vol. 388, no. 10044, 2016, pp. 606-612.

Phillips, Judith. Care. Polity, 2007.

Sen, Amartya. “Universal Health Care.” Harvard Public Health Review, vol. 5, 2015, pp. 1-8.