Working with parliamentarians to achieve UHC

Parliaments play a key role in decision-making, enacting legislation, and working to remove barriers for their constituents in enjoying good health and well-being throughout life. In addition, they keep governments accountable and approve budgets – crucial for ensuring that countries make progress for people’s health.

WHO has worked in collaboration with the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) for several years, starting with WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research before it was broadened. This collaboration has been scaled up to the signature of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between WHO and IPU in October 2018. Four key areas of work are identified in the MoU: Universal Health Coverage; global health security; Promoting health especially for vulnerable groups including women, children and adolescents; and parliamentary capacity building.

With technical support from WHO, the IPU is preparing a resolution on “Achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030: the role of Parliaments in ensuring the right to health”, which is planned to be adopted in October 2019 at the 141st IPU Assembly. In alignment with the Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting on UHC (to be adopted in September 2018), this resolution represents a major parliamentary contribution to the global commitment on UHC and will set out concrete steps for parliaments to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 on health.