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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23-- A political declaration on universal health coverage was approved by acclamation during a high-level United Nations (UN) meeting on Monday, marking world leaders' determination to advance toward full primary health coverage for their citizens. The document included commitments to progressively cover one billion additional people by 2023 with quality essential health services and quality, safe, effective, affordable and essential medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and health technologies, with a view to cover all people by 2030. Other commitments elaborated in the political declaration included stopping the rising and reversing the trend of catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure by providing measures to assure financial risk protection and eliminate impoverishment due to health-related expenses by 2030, with special emphasis on the poor as well as those who are vulnerable or in vulnerable situations. The political declaration was hailed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as "the most comprehensive agreement ever reached on global health." He described it as an "important landmark" on the journey to health for all. "This is a significant achievement that will drive progress over the next decade on communicable diseases including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, while addressing non-communicable disease and antimicrobial resistance through robust and resilient primary health care systems," he said. | 
