Financing, Cooperation Key to Achieve Universal Health Coverage

The International Labour Organization (ILO) marked International Universal Health Coverage Day by outlining the progress achieved in 2025 to strengthen social health protection systems worldwide. The organization said its work with governments, employers, workers, and partners as they advanced toward universal health coverage (UHC) through measures focused on financing, capacity building, and multisector cooperation.

ILO officials say that aligning national efforts with rights-based approaches remains central to expanding equitable access to health services and social protection. The agency also underscores the role of coordinated action between the social protection and health sectors to improve resilience and reduce poverty. “Universal social protection plays a key role in advancing better health outcomes and strengthening collaboration across sectors,” says the organization.

The focus on cooperation responded to growing recognition that achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on social protection (SDG 1.3) and UHC (SDG 3.8) requires integrated governance. As custodian agencies of these targets, the ILO and WHO hosted a side event at the World Summit for Social Development in Doha to examine how universal social protection supports health and how health policy can reinforce social protection structures. The session drew on outreach efforts conducted through P4H, a global network that assists low- and middle-income countries in developing sustainable health systems.

Throughout the year, the ILO expanded its initiatives aimed at strengthening national capacities. Training programs were central to this strategy. The organization added new learning tools, including a hybrid ILO–ITC course on social health protection to address inequities in health access, online tools launched on World Health Day, and a global Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) introduced in September 2025. According to the organization, this course has already reached over 1,000 participants, reflecting growing demand for knowledge on inclusive social health protection systems.

The ILO also increased country-level support through regional and national training programs. In Nigeria and Tanzania, the organization worked with national and regional stakeholders to review practices designed to expand coverage and improve management of existing schemes. South-South exchange was another element of capacity building. Delegations from Ethiopia, Senegal, and Zambia visited Nepal to observe the openIMIS management information system, an open-source tool for social health protection that has become a reference model for digitalization.

Financing remained a core priority as the ILO helped countries strengthen evidence-based decision-making to ensure the long-term sustainability of their health schemes. In Ethiopia, the organization supported the assessment of the financial sustainability of community-based health insurance in Addis Ababa. The findings provided insight into the system’s readiness for expansion, including potential coverage for refugees. In Peru, the ILO contributed actuarial support for health financing modeling as part of broader policy and legislative assistance under the Global Campaign for the Ratification of Convention No. 102. National institutions in Burkina Faso and Zambia also received technical guidance to apply the ILO/HEALTH actuarial model, used to forecast policy impacts and evaluate the adequacy of benefits.

To mark UHC Day, the ILO released two publications that summarize lessons and emerging practices. The working paper Universal Health Insurance Schemes: A Comparative Analysis of Implementation Features in 10 Low- and Middle-Income Countries examines how different systems include people living in poverty and informal economy workers. A second brief, Social Health Protection and The Informal Economy, provides operational guidance on designing mechanisms tailored to workers and families outside formal employment structures.

Together, these initiatives reflect the ILO’s ongoing role in supporting governments as they work to expand access to health services and build systems capable of reducing vulnerability. The organization says it will continue focusing on multisector cooperation, financing strategies, and digital transformation as countries move toward the goal of health for all.