– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly

15 February 2019

Ambassador Koro Bessho, Permanent Representative of Japan and chair of the GoF of UHC,

Ambassador Vitavas Srivihok, Permanent Representative of Thailand (co-facilitator),

Dr. Naoko Yamamoto, WHO Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage and Health Systems Cluster,

Dr Nata Menabde, Executive Director of the WHO Office at the United Nations,

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,

It is truly a delight to be here with you today and I thank you for the invitation.

I understand that this is the first of a series of meetings of the Group of Friends of Universal Health Coverage; I commend your commitment and wish you the best going forward.

I would also like to recognize the co-facilitators- Ambassadors Bogyay and Srivihok – for their work on the modalities resolution and for accepting the responsibility to conduct consultations with Member States on the political declaration, that would be adopted at the High-Level Meeting.

Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to the World Health Organization, the Universal Health Coverage 2030 Partnership, and other relevant stakeholders for promoting the theme of the High-level Meeting: “Universal Health Coverage: Moving Together to Build a Healthier World.”

Dear friends,

As President of the General Assembly, I have dedicated myself to supporting the General Assembly to make the UN relevant to all. Few areas of life are as pertinent to people everywhere as health; and even fewer issues at the moment are as so critical.

Ensuring UHC not only improves the wellbeing of people everywhere, it also fuels access to decent work, boosts economic growth, and helps to reduce poverty.

This is vitally important. The WHO estimates that out-of-pocket spending on health causes an approximated 100 million people to fall below the poverty line every year.

We can and must do better to change this. And that’s why we are all here.

Universal health coverage must be seen for what it is: a powerful instrument to achieve not only SDG 3 but the entirety of Agenda 2030. And making a compelling and effective case that UHC is the accelerator for sustainable development is key to ensuring that the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage and the subsequent political declaration establishes the foundation for achieving the goal of UHC.

Of course, even if each of these reasons alone were not enough for us to continue to push for Universal Health Coverage, we must be clear that health is a human right. Achieving UHC and ensuring that everyone has access to quality, essential health services is a pivotal step to ensuring that every individual enjoys their fundamental human rights.

And there is no one-size-fit all approach to meeting this goal. Each country must explore its own tailor-made solutions towards strengthening health systems. In doing so, priority must be given to disease prevention and health promotion policies, as well as to ensuring access to medicines, vaccines, diagnosis and health technologies.

Friends,

The High-level Meeting must therefore be a platform for the actions required to reach UHC. If we are to leave no one behind and to “ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages by 2030”, we must work towards an outcome that is people-and human rights-centered.

Finally, I want to announce that I will convene an interactive, multi-stakeholder hearing on 29 April following the mandate given by the modalities resolution.

I would like to take the opportunity to encourage all member states and relevant stakeholders to attend the hearing and to engage in a productive discussion that will certainly contribute to the negotiations of the political declaration.

Also, and in accordance with the modalities resolution, in the coming months my office will rely on your expertise and guidance to finalize the organizational arrangements for the high-level meeting, including deciding on the themes of the multi-stakeholder panels.

Dear friends,

I want to thank you for your continued support on this issue. Together, we can help ensure that UHC is prioritized. Trust that you can count on me to firmly hold the UHC “Umbrella” and to help build the necessary political momentum to make this a reality.

I look very much forward to working with you on this.

Thank you.