Universal health coverage (UHC) is about ensuring that people have access to the health care they need without suffering financial hardship. It is key to achieving the World Bank Group’s (WBG) twin goals of ending extreme poverty and increasing equity and shared prosperity, and as such it is the driving force behind all of the WBG’s health and nutrition investments.
UHC allows countries to make the most of their strongest asset: human capital. Supporting health represents a foundational investment in human capital and in economic growth—without good health, children are unable to go to school and adults are unable to go to work. It is one of the global economy’s largest sectors and provides 50 million jobs, with the majority held by women.