Health partnership advocates universal health coverage at G7 summit

An international health partnership has appealed for universal health coverage as a priority for the development agenda at the Group of Seven (G7) leaders' summit, which kicked off here Thursday.

The Ise-Shima Summit could be used to "inspire and galvanize the G7 to provide the political and financial commitments to support and help fund the universal health coverage," which aims to ensure that all people have access to the health services they need without suffering financial hardship, said the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health in a statement.

The statement, made by 192 organizations from 51 countries in the partnership, urged the G7 group to include commitments on the universal health coverage in its communique to be issued after the summit, underlining that the health of women, children and adolescents should be a front-runner in the initiative.

The partnership has also called the G7 countries to increase aid to health by contributing 0.1 percent of their gross national income, ensuring that aid is aligned and supports national health systems.

Health is among the top agenda of the two-day G7 summit meeting, which gathered leaders of the seven wealthy industrialized countries in Japan's central prefecture of Mie. Leaders are expected to consider issues including strengthening response to public health emergencies and discuss ensuring the provision of lifelong healthcare services. Endit