BACKGROUND:

The United Nations High-Level Meeting (UN HLM) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) 2023 offers the world a unique opportunity to catalyze change and reinvigorate progress towards achieving UHC by 2030. In 2019, during the first UN HLM on UHC, world leaders reaffirmed and committed to strengthening a diverse set of global health measures to get UHC back on track. Several of these commitments were aimed to broaden expenditures in public health and to “maximize efficiency and ensure equitable allocation of health spending, to deliver cost-effective, essential, affordable, timely and quality health services” with a focus on UHC. The UN HLM 2019 also recognized that healthcare financing requires a multidisciplinary approach and collaboration with the private sector and existing financing organizations, such as the Global Fund, Gavi, the Global Financing Facility and more to support national efforts in achieving UHC through sustainable financing.

To continue to catalyze action towards UHC, BCIU, Roche, and the G20 Health & Development Partnership will host a high-level panel and reception on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, NY in September 2023.

• Progress and challenges that have been faced by member states since the last HLM will be assessed.
• Contributions from other stakeholders will also be looked at, with an intention for governments, the private sector, multilateral organizations, NGOs, donors, advocacy groups and more to learn from each other and explore new trends and opportunities for sustainable funding models for NCD services.
• Key opportunities and innovations for implementation will be a focus. Specific examples of successful – and ongoing – NCD projects will be discussed in order to share best practices and learn how policy can be turned into action to support UHC in both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs).
• To address the growing burden of cancer within the EU, the European Commission developed the EU Cancer plan. A comprehensive strategy aimed to support, coordinate, and supplement Member States’ cancer prevention efforts at every stage of the disease, from prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, and overall improve the quality of life for patients and survivors. The aim of this plan is to ensure that 90% of the EU population who qualify for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screenings are offered screening by 2025. Through this plan, the Commission strives to improve the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030.

For health outcomes to truly improve, sustainable financing must be directed towards quality services and care. Efforts should ensure access to early screening and timely detection, which reduce delays in access to high-quality innovative solutions and standard of care treatments, helping to tackle the backlog in diagnosis of NCDs furthered by COVID-19. Given the burden of NCDs, this sustainable investment leads to improved health outcomes and a reduced long-term burden of the health system, while creating more efficiency in the use of health system resources and value for society.

There is no single solution to achieve UHC, but it is known that sustainable funding models, along with timely “access” to quality screening and detection informing targeted treatment, are key challenges that if address correctly, can make a significant difference to the patient and to the healthcare system. Overall, this event will focus on the following interlinked topics:

1. Sustainable and innovative funding models can ensure access to screening and timely detection, reducing delays in access to high-quality innovative solutions and standard of care treatments and support UHC standards.
2. Universal access to comprehensive health services is an investment, not a cost, and can enable the building of strong economies and stable societies: health is wealth. With investment in just NCDs, the economic output can be estimated to be worth more than $230 billion US dollars through averted mortality and increased social productivity and years of healthy life. How can we ensure the case of investing in health remains a priority on the global political agenda?

OBJECTIVES:

• To encourage political will and sustainable, equitable financing commitments towards reducing the burden of NCDs through UHC;
• To understand the problems in healthcare financing and why there has been only limited progress made towards UHC;
• To showcase the decision-making framework for investment of NCD projects through sustainable financing models;
• To understand what can be done by exchanging lessons learned and best practices in generating momentum and effective approaches to advocate for and expand universal access to quality care and services.

With the current, complex global environment and a setback towards achieving the world’s UHC goals by 2030, we must ensure that the case of investing in health remains a priority on the global political agenda. This session will provide a platform for stakeholders from the public and the private sectors to share lessons learned and discuss opportunities for a multi-stakeholder approach to implementing sustainably-financed NCD projects adhering to the principles of UHC in HICs and LMICs from around the world. Furthermore, it must be understood why there has been little to no progress globally and specifically what can be done in the short-and-medium term to support countries in strengthening their NCD and sustainable financing frameworks so that access to lifesaving screening, medicines and care are not delayed for patients.

Venue to be shared. For those registering for virtual attendance, you will receive the web link.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact BCIU at lifesciences@bciu.org.