Thursday 12 December 2024 marks seven years since World Universal Health Coverage Day was established, in recognition of the importance of strong, resilient health systems to ensure access to health services for all. The term Universal Health Coverage expresses into words the powerful goal of tackling health inequalities, which continue to be deeply rooted within and between countries. Health is a basic human right and as such it should be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of their social and economic status or their geographical location. Yet, seven years later and after a strong UN Political Declaration on UHC was approved at the UN General Assembly in 2019, little progress has been made. The latest State of UHC Commitments Report indicates that while countries made more commitments to ensuring UHC, they have taken very few concrete steps to implement them. Health coverage is still far from being universal, with half of the world population still unable to access health services and over 2 billion individuals facing financial hardship or falling into poverty to be able to afford care.
As the leading cause of death worldwide, killing over 20.5 million people every year, cardiovascular disease (CVD) often requires lifelong treatment and care and like other chronic conditions is a major contributor to catastrophic health expenditures (CHE). Low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), where 80% of premature CVD deaths occur, allocate significantly less funding for health services compared to high-income countries, exposing individuals, families and communities to dangerous financial consequences and forcing them to make an unfair choice between their health and basic needs, such as food and shelter.
As Heads of State attending the UN General Assembly in September 2025 prepare to negotiate the Political Declaration that will result from the 4th UN high-Level Meeting (UN HLM) on Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), UHC Day serves as a critical opportunity to remind Governments of the central role of UHC to ensure that quality CVD health services, from prevention, early detection, to treatment, care and rehabilitation are accessible and affordable to everyone, everywhere. In the lead up to the UN HLM on NCDs, the World Heart Federation urges governments to push for a bold political declaration, with a renewed focus on bridging the existing gap between commitments and actual implementation of these commitments. To do that, countries need to design or strengthen national CVD Action Plans, setting precise targets and actions accompanied by a clear indication of their implementation cost. This will contribute to securing funding for necessary CVD interventions. Furthermore, a range of cost-effective interventions to reduce the burden of CVD are currently available and can easily be provided at the Primary Health Care level. Countries need to act through a UHC lens, focusing on three pillars that are essential for improved cardiovascular health management:
1. Cardiovascular health promotion actions: Countries need to implement policies to address risk factors for CVD, such as tobacco and harmful alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, obesity and air pollution.
2. Cardiovascular care actions: building upon the progressive expansion of UHC, countries need to implement existing interventions to tackle CVD, to guarantee access to affordable, quality and effective CVD diagnostics, treatment and care to all.
3. Cardiovascular patients and community actions: Health policies designed to tackle CVD need to include and reflect the voices of affected individuals and communities to be as impactful as possible.
None of these actions is possible without decisive and concrete steps to expand UHC.
The World Heart Federation’s briefing document “World leaders urged to act now to stem the global tide of cardiovascular deaths: Four key actions for prioritizing cardiovascular health at the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs” provides a clear and concise set of evidence-based recommendations for governments to leverage the momentum created by the UN HLM on NCDs and take steps to curb the rising number of preventable CVD deaths.
Let’s make heart disease prevention a global priority. Sign the petition to urge world leaders at the UN HLM on NCDs 2025 to prioritise heart health and save lives.
