What does universal health coverage mean?

The recent UN General Assembly resolution calling for universal health coverage (UHC) was testimony to the continuing high-level political commitment to achievement of global health goals—an achievement that has the potential to transform health systems, especially for the poorest people.

Fulfilment of this potential, however, requires a clear definition of the term UHC otherwise it could suffer the same fate of the refrain of Health for All, which received high-level political support but failed to produce sufficiently widespread policy and budgeting changes to realize its aims.