WKC Meets with UK Partners in London to Discuss Research into UHC
Dr Paul Ong, Technical Officer at WKC, recently visited a host of UK based partners to discuss WKC’s research into health services delivery, financing and innovations for UHC in light of the challenges of population aging.
Dr Ong visited the London Secretariat of HelpAge International; University College and King’s College, University of London; The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policy, and the International Longevity Centre (United Kingdom).
Seminars were provided, where Dr. Ong detailed WKC’s research agenda into UHC while also leading lively discussions on the implications that population ageing might have for countries striving to progressively realize UHC. Among the rich discussion, this included debate about how low and middle-income countries could progressively develop their health systems as population ageing occurs, and as significant improvements to communicable diseases, maternal and child health services are realized, leading to increased longevity and a rise in non-communicable diseases. The challenges in developing multi-sectoral continuous care for older people with progressive chronic diseases were also discussed, building on WKC’s research into services delivery models that aim to optimize quality of life and service utilization by this population.
Participants greatly appreciated the opportunity to engage with WKC’s work on UHC. They also gained greater insight into the values that underpin WHO’s drive for UHC well beyond as one participant put it, “merely producing a long shopping list of things that we want for older people or for the many diseases that can afflict this and other populations. We now understand that UHC is values led and evidence-informed and requires a whole of health systems thinking and approach, coupled with careful policy choices, and the building of political will and momentum”.