December 12 is the anniversary of the first unanimous United Nations resolution calling for all
nations to provide for their citizens affordable, quality health care.
In 2019, world leaders came together and endorsed an ambitious political declaration on health at
the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage. As a result, Universal Health
Coverage Day is now celebrated annually on December 12 and is promoted by the World Health
Organization.
In the backdrop of the global Covid 19 pandemic, Ujirani Mwema Welfare Association is riding
on the Universal Health Coverage Day to call upon and challenge everyone to raise their voice in
an effort to protect our friends and neighbours with this year’s Universal Health coverage day
theme:
“Leave No One’s Health Behind: Invest in health systems for all.”
To build a safer and healthier future for all, we must all rally together to strengthen our health
systems and ensure they are equitable, resilient, and capable of meeting everyone’s needs.
Policymakers have generally assumed that poor communities are not in a position to pay health
insurance premiums for the cost of future hospitalization.
Yet, the concern of financing people who live in low- and middle-income communities is real, and
the burden of non-communicable diseases of this demography is, by in large, connected to a lack
of access to effective and affordable medical care, weak financing, and delivery of health services.
Uhuru Estates Ujirani Mwema Welfare Association through UJIRANI AFYA on its part visualizes
Community-based health insurance scheme as part of a broader solution to health care financing
problems in low-income communities.
The thinking around UJIRANI AFYA is to introduce a renewed and empowered community based
alternative to health finance.
We encourage all our neighbors, civil society organisations, the private sector, academia, and
media to use this year’s theme to keep holding our leaders, our health systems and ourselves
accountable to the promise of health for all. Everyone, everywhere deserves access to quality
health services, in times of crisis and calm.
