Distinguished Delegates,

progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC) demands urgent action to reduce inequalities and strengthen primary health care (PHC), the foundation of accessible, equitable, cost-effective services. PHC emphasizes prevention, maternal and child health, immunization, nutrition, healthy aging, disability inclusion, and reaching underserved populations, including those in fragile or remote settings. Strengthening the health workforce, including community health workers (CHWs), is critical for expanding care to vulnerable groups.

Global health financing gaps are widening. Out-of-pocket costs push 1.3 billion people into poverty. In 2021, 11% of the global population lived in countries spending under $50 per capita on health, compared to $4,000 in high-income nations. Declining development assistance and post-COVID economic challenges exacerbate financial hardships, leaving over 800 million spending more than 10% of household budgets on healthcare.

We commend the Director-General's Report on UHC and WHO's 2027 roadmap to accelerate UHC via a PHC approach, financial protection reforms, and Nigeria’s leadership on the resolution to enhance global health financing, calling for prioritizing equity, strengthening domestic resources, tackling unsustainable debt, and aligning external funding with domestic priorities under the Lusaka Agenda.

To implement this resolution effectively, we urge Member States to:
• Strengthen resilient health systems with PHC at their core to reduce out-of-pocket payments, promote self-care interventions for SRHR, and develop child-sensitive, shock-responsive social protection systems.
• Improve financial protection for vulnerable populations by ensuring disaggregated data (age, gender, disability) and institutional capacity to monitor financial flows.
• Boost support to resource-constrained countries by increasing development assistance, improving access to affordable finance, and tackling unsustainable debt and tax abuse while strengthening domestic resource management.
• Develop cost-effective, gender-transformative packages focused on maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, including nutrition and comprehensive SRHR.
• Strengthen the health workforce, of which women represent 70%, through gender-transformative policies ensuring safe workplaces, fair pay, and labor rights.

Such measures are essential for scaling PHC, prevention, timely care, and community-based surveillance.