Partnering for health: 

Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all,” including universal health coverage by 2030, will require efforts across all layers and sectors of society. Only if governments, the private sector, and the global development community come together can we ensure these goals are translated from lofty ambition to reality.

Health systems are only as strong as their weakest link — and ensuring universal health coverage has become increasingly recognized as a matter of global health security, too. Despite the additional pressure on health systems during this pandemic, we need to continue efforts to eradicate and prevent a wide range of communicable and noncommunicable diseases.

Every individual has the right to access quality care, no matter where they live or their ability to pay for out-of-pocket expenses. But many health programs still struggle to reach scale and underserved populations — and that’s where partnerships play a pivotal role in ensuring improved access to care and lifesaving medicines for all.

Through well structured partnerships — especially with governments and local actors on the ground — we are better placed to create sustainable delivery mechanisms for quality care. This event, co-hosted by Devex and AstraZeneca, aimed to shine a light on some of the lessons learned from key health partnerships to ensure we can build on progress, advance our joint commitments, and ensure equitable progress on UHC across the globe.