A Call for Global Discussion on Universal Coverage.

INTERNATIONAL cooperation; HEALTH services accessibility; HEALTH insurance; INTERNATIONAL relations; NATIONAL health services; WORLD health; WORLD Health Organization; GOVERNMENT policy; SINGLE-payer health care

The authors reflect on universal health coverage and the journal's development of a platform debating this and related issues. They state that the United Nations General Assembly acknowledged access to health care as a human right in 1948 and mention how The World Health Organization and other international agencies have historically proposed expanding health care access. They consider how new and expensive medical technologies can result in health disparities and socioeconomic inequality.