Universal health coverage (UHC)
Public Health and Policy
Definition. Universal health coverage means that all people can use the quality health services they need without suffering financial hardship.
Explanation
WHO framed UHC around three dimensions: population covered, services covered and the share of costs covered (World Health Organization, 2010). Household data from Georgia show how out-of-pocket payments still impoverish families on the path to UHC (Gorgodze et al., 2025).
Strengthening primary care is a catalytic investment towards UHC (Tilley-Gyado et al., 2016), and workforce planning is essential to sustain it (Leerapan et al., 2021).
Related concepts
Primary health care Out-of-pocket expenditure Catastrophic health expenditure Health financing Access to care
Read on The Health Topics
- Georgia’s Healthcare Costs and Household Impoverishment
- Catalytic Investment and Catalytic Financing: A Conceptual Map for Health Management
- Understanding Health Dynamics: The Role of Causal Loop Diagrams
References
Gorgodze, T., Zoidze, A., Catalan, J. M., & Gotsadze, G. (2025). Financial protection and universal health coverage in Georgia: An analysis of impoverishing healthcare costs using household income and expenditure surveys. BMJ Global Health, 10 (e019150). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2025-019150
Leerapan, B., Teekasap, P., Urwannachotima, N., Jaichuen, W., Chiangchaisakulthai, K., Udomaksorn, K., Meeyai, A., Noree, T., & Sawaengdee, K. (2021). System dynamics modelling of health workforce planning to address future challenges of Thailand’s Universal Health Coverage Scheme. Human Resources for Health, 19 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-021-00572-5
Tilley-Gyado, R., Filani, O., Morhason-Bello, I., & Adewole, I. F. (2016). Strengthening the primary care delivery system: A catalytic investment toward achieving universal health coverage in Nigeria. Health Systems & Reform, 2 (4), 277–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2016.1234427
World Health Organization. (2010). The world health report: Health systems financing: The path to universal coverage. World Health Organization.
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Universal health coverage (UHC). In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/universal-health-coverage/