Policy Briefs

Universal Health Coverage and Global Public Goods Financing: How Can the G7 Fulfil Its Universal Health Commitments in the Aftermath of COVID-19?

Task Force: Global health

Authors:

Robert Yates

Abstract

All world leaders are committed to the goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) – whereby everyone should receive the health services they need without suffering financial hardship – yet the COVID-19 pandemic has undermined progress towards UHC in almost all countries. COVID has exposed insufficient investments in public health and key population groups have been left behind in many national responses. While global scientific solidarity and collaboration to tackle the pandemic has been impressive, the task of ensuring sufficient production and equitable allocation of the resulting technologies has clearly failed. At its 2021 summit, the G7 failed to address vaccine inequity, resulting in some experts calling for the summit to be its last. It is vital that in 2022 the G7 put global health at the top of its agenda and act across a number of priorities to ensure it fulfils its universal health commitments.