On UHC Day, ILO Reaffirms Rights-Based Path to Universal Health Coverage

As the world marks International Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has reaffirmed its strong commitment to a rights-based approach to achieving health for all, emphasizing the central role of social health protection in ensuring equitable access to quality health services.

Throughout 2025, the ILO worked closely with governments, workers’ and employers’ organisations, and international partners to strengthen social health protection systems and support countries in their progress toward universal health coverage. These efforts are grounded in the principle that access to health care is a fundamental human right and a core component of social justice, decent work, and sustainable development.

Breaking silos between social protection and health systems

A major priority for the ILO in 2025 was strengthening multisectoral collaboration between social protection and health systems, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—specifically SDG 1.3 on universal social protection and SDG 3.8 on universal health coverage. As the respective custodian agencies for these targets, the ILO and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly advanced policy coherence and integrated approaches.

In this context, the two organizations co-hosted a high-level side event at the World Summit for Social Development in Doha titled “Universal Social Protection for Better Health, Improved Resilience and Poverty Reduction.” The event highlighted how universal social protection systems contribute directly to improved health outcomes, greater resilience to shocks, and reduced poverty, while positioning social health protection as a key driver of intersectoral collaboration.

This advocacy built on the ILO’s leadership role within the P4H Network, a global alliance of multilateral and bilateral partners supporting low- and middle-income countries in building sustainable and inclusive health systems. The ILO’s engagement in P4H has been strengthened through a strategic partnership with the Swiss Development Cooperation Agency, enabling more coordinated and coherent support at country level.

Expanding capacity building to advance social health protection

In 2025, the ILO significantly expanded its capacity-building portfolio on social health protection, offering new learning opportunities for policymakers, practitioners, and social partners. Key initiatives included the launch of a new ILO–International Training Centre (ITC) hybrid course, Social Health Protection: Addressing Inequities in Access to Health Care, as well as the Social Health Protection Toolkit, released on World Health Day to support practical policy design and implementation.

The ILO also launched a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) titled Introduction to Social Health Protection in September 2025. The course quickly gained traction, reaching more than 1,000 participants globally, reflecting growing demand for knowledge and skills in designing inclusive health protection systems.

At the country level, the ILO deepened its engagement through strong partnerships with national institutions. In Nigeria and Tanzania, tailored trainings focused on innovative approaches to extending coverage and improving scheme administration. The organization also facilitated South–South knowledge exchanges, enabling policymakers to learn from peer experiences. For instance, delegations from Ethiopia, Senegal, and Zambia undertook study tours to Nepal to observe the implementation of the openIMIS open-source management information system for social health protection, informing their own digitalization strategies.

Supporting sustainable and evidence-based health financing

The ILO continued to support countries in strengthening sustainable financing and actuarial capacity for social health protection. In Ethiopia, the organization assisted in assessing the financial sustainability of community-based health insurance in Addis Ababa, generating critical evidence to inform coverage expansion, including for refugees.

In Peru, the ILO helped strengthen national actuarial capacities for health financing modelling as part of broader policy and legal reforms under the Global Ratification Campaign for Social Security Convention No. 102 (C102). Meanwhile, in Burkina Faso and Zambia, national institutions received technical support to use the ILO/HEALTH actuarial model, enabling better anticipation of the financial and coverage impacts of policy changes.

Advancing knowledge for universal health coverage

To commemorate International UHC Day, the ILO is releasing two key publications aimed at advancing knowledge and practical solutions for inclusive and sustainable health coverage.

The first is a working paper on Universal Health Insurance Schemes, providing a comparative analysis of implementation features in 10 low- and middle-income countries. The paper examines how different systems ensure inclusion of people living in poverty and those working in the informal economy. The second is an ILO Brief on Social Health Protection and the Informal Economy, offering targeted guidance on designing mechanisms that effectively reach informal workers and their families.

Together, these initiatives underscore the ILO’s continued commitment to supporting countries in building equitable, resilient, and rights-based health systems, reinforcing the message that universal health coverage is not only a health goal, but also a cornerstone of social protection, decent work, and sustainable development.