The Universal Health Coverage Life Course Cluster
The Universal Health Coverage Life Course Cluster
Overview
Countries in the African Region have committed to make progress towards universal health coverage (UHC), as part of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. Access to essential health services has nearly doubled over the last two decades, and the Region’s health workforce has increased by a million within a decade. However, there has been little improvement in the proportion of the population being pushed into poverty as a result of health expenses.
The Universal Health Coverage Life Course (ULC) is one of the three technical clusters in the WHO African Region leading the efforts of WHO for achieving UHC in the African region by 2030. This includes:
- Equity in access to quality essential healthcare services – everyone who needs health services should get them, and not simply those who can pay for them.
- Quality of health services – good enough to improve the health of those receiving the services.
- Financial-risk protection – ensuring that the cost of health care does not put people at risk of financial hardship.
Related health topics
Dr Kasonde Mwinga
Director Universal Health Coverage/Life Course
Dr Kasonde Mwinga is the Director of Universal Health Coverage, Life Course Cluster (from May 2021). She leads WHO experts to facilitate the improvement of health and well-being of populations of different ages using people-centred health systems to achieve universal health coverage in Africa. Her current work puts women, children, adolescents and older persons at the heart of health service delivery through adequate health policy and planning, robust health financing systems, skilled and motivated health workforce, required medicines, technologies and infrastructure and reliable information to monitor progress.
Dr Mwinga has served in various WHO country and regional office positions. Most recently, she was WHO Country Representative for Rwanda (as of May 2019). She was also the WHO India Team Leader (as of 2016), for promoting health through the life course. Before joining WHO in 2001, Dr Mwinga was a consultant paediatrician in the University Teaching Hospital in Zambia. She also worked as an honorary lecturer and researcher in the University of Zambia.
Dr Mwinga holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA), a Master in Paediatrics from University of Zambia and a Health Management diploma from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
Vision
All people across different population sub-groups in the African region have the health care they need, where and when they need it without suffering financial hardship.
Mission
Improve the health and well-being of populations along the life course using people-centered health systems to achieve universal health coverage.
Objective
To facilitate, support, and advocate for the provision of equitable access to quality essential health services using people-centered approaches to build and sustain resilient health systems.
ULC cluster’s programmes/teams
Overview
Only in Africa is the child population aged under 18 years expected to grow through 20501. Attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends on the region securing this demographic dividend, by investing in child and adolescent well-being. The aim of the Child and Adolescents Health (CAH) program is that newborns, children, and adolescents in the WHO African Region survive, thrive, and develop to their full potential.
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Team members
Dr. Janet Kayita
Team Lead
Email: kayitaj@who.int
Dr. Assumpta Muriithi
Child Health
Email: muriithia@who.int
Dr. Geoffrey Bisoborwa
Adolescent Health
Email: bisoborwag@who.int
Prossy Nakitandwe
Programme Officer
Email: nakitandwep@who.int
Ketty Natacha Carmelle Dandou Banionga
Email: dandouk@who.int
Overview
Achieving the targets related to sexual, reproductive, and maternal health and the health and well-being of older people is critical to ensuring that Member States of the African region, leave no one behind towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. With this achievement, Member States would have made remarkable progress in reducing preventable maternal deaths, improving access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services, increasing the percentage of births attended by skilled health professionals, and achieving universal health coverage. Furthermore, the health and well-being of older individuals would have been improved. The Reproductive Maternal Health and Healthy Ageing (RMH) unit provides policy, programmatic, and technical support to countries in the African region to achieve these targets.
Team members
Dr. Adeniyi Aderoba
Team Lead for Reproductive Maternal Health and Healthy Ageing
Email: aderobaa@who.int
Dr. Triphonie Nkurunziza
Maternal Health –Guidelines, norms, and standards
Email: nkurunzizat@who.int
- Dr Hayfa Elamin - Sexual and Reproductive Health Technical officer for East and Southern Africa
Email: elaminha@who.int
Ms. Satiane Didolance Odika Née Ingouo – Administrative Asistant
Email: satianeo@who.int
Overview
Achieving the targets related to sexual, reproductive, and maternal health and the health and well-being of older people is critical to ensuring that Member States of the African region, leave no one behind towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. With this achievement, Member States would have made remarkable progress in reducing preventable maternal deaths, improving access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services, increasing the percentage of births attended by skilled health professionals, and achieving universal health coverage. Furthermore, the health and well-being of older individuals would have been improved. The Reproductive Maternal Health and Healthy Ageing (RMH) unit provides policy, programmatic, and technical support to countries in the African region to achieve these targets.
Team members
Dr. Adeniyi Aderoba
Team Lead for Reproductive Maternal Health and Healthy Ageing
Email: aderobaa@who.int
Dr. Triphonie Nkurunziza
Maternal Health –Guidelines, norms, and standards
Email: nkurunzizat@who.int
- Dr Hayfa Elamin - Sexual and Reproductive Health Technical officer for East and Southern Africa
Email: elaminha@who.int
Ms. Satiane Didolance Odika Née Ingouo – Administrative Asistant
Email: satianeo@who.int
Overview
Achieving the targets related to sexual, reproductive, and maternal health and the health and well-being of older people is critical to ensuring that Member States of the African region, leave no one behind towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. With this achievement, Member States would have made remarkable progress in reducing preventable maternal deaths, improving access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services, increasing the percentage of births attended by skilled health professionals, and achieving universal health coverage. Furthermore, the health and well-being of older individuals would have been improved. The Reproductive Maternal Health and Healthy Ageing (RMH) unit provides policy, programmatic, and technical support to countries in the African region to achieve these targets.
Team members
Dr. Adeniyi Aderoba
Team Lead for Reproductive Maternal Health and Healthy Ageing
Email: aderobaa@who.int
Dr. Triphonie Nkurunziza
Maternal Health –Guidelines, norms, and standards
Email: nkurunzizat@who.int
- Dr Hayfa Elamin - Sexual and Reproductive Health Technical officer for East and Southern Africa
Email: elaminha@who.int
Ms. Satiane Didolance Odika Née Ingouo – Administrative Asistant
Email: satianeo@who.int
Overview
Achieving the targets related to sexual, reproductive, and maternal health and the health and well-being of older people is critical to ensuring that Member States of the African region, leave no one behind towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. With this achievement, Member States would have made remarkable progress in reducing preventable maternal deaths, improving access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services, increasing the percentage of births attended by skilled health professionals, and achieving universal health coverage. Furthermore, the health and well-being of older individuals would have been improved. The Reproductive Maternal Health and Healthy Ageing (RMH) unit provides policy, programmatic, and technical support to countries in the African region to achieve these targets.
Team members
Dr. Adeniyi Aderoba
Team Lead for Reproductive Maternal Health and Healthy Ageing
Email: aderobaa@who.int
Dr. Triphonie Nkurunziza
Maternal Health –Guidelines, norms, and standards
Email: nkurunzizat@who.int
- Dr Hayfa Elamin - Sexual and Reproductive Health Technical officer for East and Southern Africa
Email: elaminha@who.int
Ms. Satiane Didolance Odika Née Ingouo – Administrative Asistant
Email: satianeo@who.int
Overview
Achieving the targets related to sexual, reproductive, and maternal health and the health and well-being of older people is critical to ensuring that Member States of the African region, leave no one behind towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. With this achievement, Member States would have made remarkable progress in reducing preventable maternal deaths, improving access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services, increasing the percentage of births attended by skilled health professionals, and achieving universal health coverage. Furthermore, the health and well-being of older individuals would have been improved. The Reproductive Maternal Health and Healthy Ageing (RMH) unit provides policy, programmatic, and technical support to countries in the African region to achieve these targets.
Team members
Dr. Adeniyi Aderoba
Team Lead for Reproductive Maternal Health and Healthy Ageing
Email: aderobaa@who.int
Dr. Triphonie Nkurunziza
Maternal Health –Guidelines, norms, and standards
Email: nkurunzizat@who.int
- Dr Hayfa Elamin - Sexual and Reproductive Health Technical officer for East and Southern Africa
Email: elaminha@who.int
Ms. Satiane Didolance Odika Née Ingouo – Administrative Asistant
Email: satianeo@who.int
Overview
Strong health governance is key for ministries of health to undertake the desired leadership and stewardship roles that allow the participation of key stakeholders in advancing the national health agenda in the modern-day dynamic and pluralistic health sector environment, with multiple health systems actors, including communities, sub-national levels, private sector, and development partners. WHO is one of the leading organizations to support countries in the development, implementation, monitoring, and review of their national policies, regal frameworks, and plans as tools for strengthening health governance. WHO Resolution WHA64.8 “Strengthening national policy dialogue to build more robust health policies, strategies and plans” requested, amongst other things, for WHO Director-General ‘to strengthen the Organization’s capacity at all levels for enhanced and integrated support to national policy dialogue around national health policies, strategies, and plans. Furthermore, the WHO 13 General Programme of Work 2020-2025 reinforces the importance of all countries having an updated, comprehensive NHPSP by including this as one of the main areas of work under Category 4. Supporting countries to strengthen health governance promotes and builds capacities for improved transparency, accountability, responsiveness, and empowerment of communities.
Team members
Dr. DJIGUIMDE, Amédée Prosper
Team Lead
Email: djiguimdea@who.int
Dr. SAM Omar
Technical officer
Email: samo@who.int
Ms ANYE Muriel
Program Officer
Ms ODIKA NÉE INGOUO, Satiane Didolance
Admin Assistant
Overview
In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the considerable challenges faced by countries in the WHO African Region in generating essential health information. The challenges were particularly severe regarding the reporting of deaths where 32 countries (68%) had almost no capacity to register deaths, and 35 (74%) were hardly able to determine and report causes of deaths. In response, the WHO Regional Director for Africa created the Health Information Systems (HIS) team to support countries to enhance their HIS and improve the availability, accuracy and use of health data to aid decision-making.
Team members
Dr. Benson DROTI – Team Lead, Health Information Systems Unit
Email: drotib@who.int
Dr. Hillary KIPRUTO – Routine Health Information Systems Technical Officer, ESA
Email: kiprutohi@who.int
Mr. Moussa TRAORE -Routine Health Information Systems Technical Officer, WA and CA
Email: traoremo@who.int
Mr. Davy LIBOKO – Data Management Officer
Email: libokognekabassad@who.int
Mr. Harris KOUBEMBA – Data Management Officer
Email: koubembamonah@who.int
Ms. Aishat Koroma – Programme Officer(OIC)
Email: akoroma@who.int
Mr. Jean Bernard Moussounda – Administrative Assistant
Email: moussoundaj@who.int
Overview
The health workforce is essential for delivering healthcare, ensuring access to care, supporting public health initiatives, and sustaining healthcare systems for universal health coverage and sustainable development goals. The availability of health workforce is highly associated with higher attainment of Universal Health Coverage targets, improved Human Development, and increased probability of survival for women and children. Through these, investing in health workers has an economic return of US$1 to US$9.
The World Health Organization supports Member States in the WHO African Region to be able to invest and optimize their health workforce capacity by improving their availability, quality, distribution, retention, and performance for increasing access to quality essential health services along the life cycle.
Team members
Adam Ahmat
Health Workforce Policy and Planning
Email: adamah@who.int
Mrs Ritah Nakuya-Turay
Program Officer
Email: nakuyar@who.int
Overview
In the African Region, up to one in ten people face the risk of being pushed into poverty due to health expenses. The Health Financing and Investment (HFI) programme's overall objective is to support countries to reduce the number of people suffering financial hardship in the process of utilizing essential healthcare services.
Team members
Ogochukwu Chukwujekwu
Team Lead
Email: chukwujekwuo@who.int
Diane Karenzi Muhongerwa
Technical Officer Social Protection
Email: muhongerwad@who.int
Sylvia Namuli
Programme Officer
Email: namulis@who.int
Adele Laureth Baboungou
Administrative Assistant
Email: baboungoua@who.int
Overview
In 2021, WHO identified access to medicine as a critical challenge in Africa, home to 1.2 billion people representing 15.24% of the global population. Unfortunately, many life-saving medicines remained inaccessible and unaffordable for a significant portion of the population, leading to preventable suffering and poor health outcomes. This lack of access exacerbated wider health and socioeconomic disparities and hindered progress toward achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the Health Security Agenda.
Middle-income countries face low availability of essential medicines in the public and private sectors. Surveys revealed that in developing countries, the average availability of essential medicines stood at approximately 35% in the public sector and 63% in the private sector. Given that around 80% of Africans relied on public health facilities, chronic shortages of critical medicines became a major barrier to adequate healthcare provision, particularly during emergencies.
The financial burden of medicines was evident, with 60 to 90% paid out-of-pocket. Inadequate financial coverage and funding mechanisms restricted access. Additionally, African countries lacked local production capacity for life-saving medicines, oxygen, and vaccines, making local production crucial to reduce dependence on imports.
Incidents in 2022 and 2023 resulted in the loss of children's lives, highlighting the threat of substandard and falsified medical products. Weak regulatory systems underscored the need for stronger capacities to ensure product quality and safety. To achieve UHC and Health Security, WHO emphasized the role of health products in a resilient system, encompassing medicines, vaccines, blood products, traditional medicine, medical devices, and health infrastructure. The WHO Regional Office for Africa launched the MIM program to support countries in ensuring access to essential health products for all populations.
MIM's strategic interventions supported Member States in developing evidence-based policies for sustainable access to essential medical products. Strengthening regulatory capacities, promoting convergence, harmonization, and reliance mechanisms for quality-assured products were crucial. WHO facilitated access through market shaping and efficient procurement. Promoting local production stimulated the growth of quality-assured medicines in Africa.
Through these efforts, WHO aimed to make essential health products more accessible to all in the African region. By achieving this vision, WHO contributed to advancing Universal Health Coverage and the Health Security Agenda in Africa.
Team members
Dr. Mohamed ISMAIL
Team Lead
Email: ismailmohamed@who.int
Dr. Aissatou SOUGOU
Health Products Market Shaping
Email: aissatous@who.int
Dr. Edith Andrews ANNAN
Health Products and Policies
Email: andrewse@who.int
Dr Babatunde JAYEOLA
Regulatory system
Email: jayeolab@who.int
Strategic priorities
The work of the Universal Health Coverage Life Course (ULC) has six strategic priorities:
- Increasing equitable access to quality health services along the life-course
- Improving the availability and equitable deployment and retention of skilled health workforce
- Increasing access to medicines, vaccines, and health products, including diagnostics and devices, and blood and blood products
- Strengthening health governance at the country level
- Reducing the number of people suffering financial hardship due to health expenses
- Improving systems and capacity for tracking progress toward universal health coverage in countries.
