Universal Health Coverage (UHC) What It Takes To Make It Universal

Universal Health Coverage

It covers both health and well-being and it means enabling people to live and produce sustainably on the planet. It means a grandmother looking after grandchildren will not have to sell all the crops meant for food to pay for hospital bills. It also means there is insurance coverage for a pandemic such as COVID or Ebola and that countries have the necessary readiness to address diseases/infections.

It means humans are made aware that we live on a planet that needs being cared for if we are to be assured of quality life. It has positive and sustainable characteristics which enable individuals and organisations to thrive and flourish. It is a product that is consumable, demanded and produced.

It means that a social-political-legal regime allows for grassroots to be mobilized and organized to translate policy, programming and planning into actionable life promoting practices.

The policy, programming and planning constitutes the representation, character or definitions to cover aspects such as: humans, biodiversity, systems and policy regime. Health is defined along these dimensions: development, delivery and provision of health and social care services. It should also cover the connections that are physiological, behavioural and social, as identified by the biopsychosocial model of health. The nature of this relationship is two-way, with mental health influencing physical health and vice versa. This is what entails UHC for which to be beneficial emphasizes the connection between environment, climate, health, wellbeing, mental and physical health.

The policy/legislation regime in this case should ensure strengthening collaboration geared at stimulating policy dialogue; addressing health emergencies; promoting gender equality, health equity and human rights; and institutionalizing data research, use, dissemination and supportive of innovation. WHO has set the stage in form of three-way tests: promoting health; keeping the world safe; as well as reaching out to and serving the vulnerable persons.   

However, these must cascade into the two definitions of health and well-being as defined by WHO. The World Health Organization's definition of health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” They assert that physical and mental well-being is a human right, enabling a life without limitation or restriction.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as 'a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity' (WHO, 1948). ... 'Wellbeing' refers to a positive rather than neutral state, framing health as a positive aspiration. Health must be such that conversation stimulates the mental and physical aspects of health. Parity of esteem between physical and mental health must ensure that mental health is acknowledged as equally important to physical health in the development, delivery and provision of health and social care services. There has to be a public mental health policy which aims to improve population mental health and wellbeing, prevent the onset of mental and emotional distress, and increase resilience.

There are the 5 ways to wellbeing which is a useful tool for stimulating discussions about wellbeing and public mental health, and enabling individuals to think about ways in which to improve their own wellbeing. The 5 ways are: to connect; be active; take notice; keep learning; and give

Defining wellbeing is also a key to discussing and conceptualizing mental health and public mental health. Wellbeing may not be taken to be set down by the medical model of health since its presence or absence is not a diagnosis. The public health principle is rooted in protecting and improving health, focusing on keeping people well rather than treating illness.

Health entrenches the five core elements of psychological well-being: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment.

The outcomes of health are feeling good and functioning well. This means that there is a state that prevails as an individual’s own experience of their life, and a comparison of their life circumstances with social norms and values. Wellbeing is viewed as having two dimensions: objective and subjective wellbeing.

Objective wellbeing is more of a proxy measure based on assumptions about basic human needs and rights,

including aspects such as adequate food, physical health, education, and safety. Objective wellbeing can be measured through self-report (e.g. asking people whether they have a specific health condition), or through more objective measures (e.g. mortality rates and life expectancy). Subjective wellbeing (or personal wellbeing) is measured by asking people directly how they think and feel about their own wellbeing, and includes aspects such as life satisfaction (evaluation), positive emotions (hedonic), and whether their life is meaningful (eudemonic).

So, UHC is not only an ideal or goal, it is also a commodity or resource which is demanded, supplied and packaged as a service. It is a stimulant and catalyzer for social development and an indicator of standard of living. It covers the policy, programming and planning realm which constitute the following elements: humans, biodiversity, systems, policy regime, development, delivery, provision, social care services, physiological, behavioural, social, environment, climate, health, wellbeing, mental and physical health.