Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day presents us with a unique opportunity to emphasize that health is a right, and not a privilege. This is critical because for millions of people, that realization is far from reach. The 2025 commemoration theme clearly reveals the huge challenge many people continue to face in accessing health care and how tiring it has become: ‘Unaffordable Health Costs: We are sick of it’.
Individuals are sick of having to choose between buying medicine and food. Sick of delaying hospital visits until conditions become critical. Sick of watching loved ones suffer, not because treatment does not exist, but because it costs too much.
Across many communities, the challenge is the same. Some women in labour can’t afford basic supplies. Young girls are missing school because their families cannot afford treatment for a preventable illness. Households are being pushed deeper into poverty due to hospital admissions. These are not just sampled cases; they are daily realities.
When Health Care Costs Too Much, Everyone Pays
Universal Health Coverage ensures that everyone can access the health services they need without financial hardship. However, rising out-of-pocket payments continue to undermine this goal. Even where health insurance schemes exist, gaps in coverage, delayed reimbursements, medicine stock-outs, and hidden costs mean patients still have to pay out of pocket, often hugely.
For many families, a single hospital visit can wipe out lifelong savings, force the sale of assets, or lead to lifelong debt. This cycle deepens inequality, disproportionately affecting women, girls, persons with disabilities, and low-income households. When health becomes unaffordable, poverty becomes inevitable.
Women and Girls Carry the Heaviest Burden
The cost of health care hits women and girls hardest. From reproductive health services to maternal care, women often need health services more frequently, yet have less financial power to pay. When services are unaffordable, women delay care, self-medicate, or endure pain in silence. The consequences are devastating, including maternal deaths, mental distress, and lost opportunities.
Universal Health Coverage cannot be achieved if women and girls continue to pay a higher price simply for being female. Health insurance should be a shield against financial hardship, but many times, it becomes a barrier. Delays in provider payments weaken service delivery. Limited benefit packages exclude essential services. Patients insured often pay out of pocket; a sad reality. UHC ensures effective coverage where people receive quality care, when they need it, without fear of financial ruin.
We Are Sick of Excuses. It Is Time for Action. This year, we are demanding change.
Governments must increase and protect public financing for health, eliminate avoidable out-of-pocket payments, strengthen health insurance systems to truly cover essential services, ensure timely provider reimbursements, and prioritize the health needs of women, girls, and vulnerable populations.
