Guaranteeing a Right to Healthcare
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Introduction to the committee:
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the principal policy-making body of the UN. As all member states are part of this committee and have an equal vote, it provides a unique setting for multilateral discussions on issues that the international community faces. The General Assembly meets in regular sessions from September to December every year. The General Assembly is divided into six committees, which discuss particular issues. We will be meeting as the UNGA’s third committee, the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM), which deals with a wide variety of matters relating to Human Rights, Humanitarian Crises, and Social Issues.
The Right to Healthcare:
The right to healthcare is guaranteed by a number of international treaties and conventions. Article 25 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UNGA in 1948, states:
25.1 “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, …”
The right was further codified in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESR), an international agreement ratified by 176 countries (notably excluding the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia, among a few others). Its 12th article states that:
The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for:
The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child;
The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene;
The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases;
The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.
These articles establish a right to healthcare, which generally requires the provision of Universal Healthcare (UHC). Such provision is still not achieved in many countries, both due to a lack of resources and of institutional failures. The ICESR works on the principle of progressive realization, since the achievement of certain material rights might not be possible in some places in the short term, but requires states to achieve as much as possible given available resources. This topic bloc will concern efforts to advance the right healthcare.
Approaches to UHC:
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines UHC as ensuring that everyone can access the health services they need, when and where they need them, without suffering financial hardship. This includes health promotion and prevention, as well as treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care. Consequently, UHC has three broad objectives: ensuring that the population can access healthcare, ensuring that the services provided are sufficiently comprehensive and of adequate quality, and protecting individuals from financial hardship caused by healthcare costs.
There are several ways in which these objectives can be achieved. Healthcare may be provided directly through government-owned facilities, through privately operated facilities financed by the state, or through a mixture of public and private providers. Similarly, healthcare can be financed through general taxation, compulsory social health insurance contributions, compulsory private insurance, or combinations of these methods. Private insurance can also operate alongside a universal public system, providing additional or supplementary coverage. The WHO therefore emphasizes that there is no single route to UHC, as countries must design systems according to their populations' needs and the resources available to them.
Most high-income countries have achieved universal or near-universal coverage for a core set of healthcare services, with the US being the only major exception, although the mechanisms used to achieve this vary considerably. One major approach is tax-funded healthcare, in which healthcare is primarily financed from general government revenue. The United Kingdom's National Health Service is an example of a system built around this principle, although private providers and private insurance also have roles within the wider system.
Another approach is social health insurance, historically associated with Germany, in which compulsory insurance contributions are collected and pooled to finance healthcare. Germany's system combines compulsory contributions with government subsidies, while individuals above certain income thresholds and some other groups may have access to private insurance.
A third approach involves compulsory private health insurance. Switzerland, for example, requires residents obtain basic health insurance from regulated insurers, with government subsidies available to assist people with lower incomes. This demonstrates that a system can use private insurers while still pursuing universal population coverage. In many developed countries, voluntary private insurance also exists alongside the main system, covering services or costs not fully covered by the basic scheme.
For lower-income countries, expanding UHC can involve different challenges, including shortages of healthcare workers and infrastructure, geographical barriers to accessing facilities, and limited government resources. Consequently, approaches often place particular emphasis on primary healthcare, community-based services, and mechanisms for pooling financial resources so that individuals do not have to pay the full cost of treatment themselves. Many low-income countries have significant issues with the provision of UHC, but there are several highly successful implementations, with various approaches.
Rwanda provides an example of an approach centered on community-based insurance and expansion of primary healthcare. Rwanda has used community-based health insurance as part of its efforts towards UHC, while also expanding health posts to bring basic services closer to underserved communities. In 2021, the government had established more than 1,100 health posts nationwide, with further expansion planned in areas lacking adequate facilities.
Cuba, meanwhile, represents a substantially more state-centered model. Its health system is organized around universal access and primary healthcare, with the state playing the principal role in financing, regulating and providing services. The Cuban model places particular emphasis on community-based primary care, including family doctors and nurses. International health organization have also highlighted Cuba's experience in primary healthcare and its cooperation with other countries through medical education and health programs.
Internationally, these different approaches demonstrate that UHC does not necessarily mean the establishment of a single global healthcare model. International organizations such as the WHO instead support countries in developing systems suited to their circumstances, including through technical assistance, health-system strengthening and cooperation on primary healthcare and financing. This leaves substantial room for states to determine how the right to healthcare is implemented within their own national systems.
Actions Taken by the UN so Far:
The United Nations has supported Universal Health Coverage through a combination of political commitments, international cooperation and coordination with the World Health Organization. A major step was the inclusion of UHC in Sustainable Development Goal 3, with Target 3.8 calling for universal health coverage by 2030, including financial protection and access to essential healthcare services, medicines and vaccines.
In 2019, the UN General Assembly held its first High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage. This resulted in the adoption of Resolution 74/2, a political declaration in which Member States affirmed the goal to work towards UHC by 2030. The declaration placed particular emphasis on strengthening primary healthcare, expanding access to essential services and medicines, improving health infrastructure and the health workforce, and protecting people from financial hardship caused by healthcare costs.
The UN continued this work in 2023, when the General Assembly held a second High-Level Meeting on UHC. The meeting reviewed progress since 2019, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and resulted in the adoption of Resolution 78/4. The declaration reaffirmed the goal of achieving UHC by 2030 and called for stronger and more resilient health systems, with primary healthcare remaining an important foundation. It also emphasized improving access to affordable medicines, vaccines and other health technologies.
Alongside these political commitments, the UN system works with countries through the WHO and other international organizations to support the development of national health systems. The WHO provides technical guidance and assistance on areas such as health financing, primary healthcare, health-system strengthening and monitoring progress towards UHC. The UN has therefore mainly acted by setting international goals, encouraging governments to commit to them, and supporting countries in developing their systems.
Major Blocs:
Debates over UHC are likely to divide states along several lines, although these blocs are not fixed and countries may cooperate differently depending on the specific proposal.
One important divide is between more and less economically developed countries. Developing countries, particularly those within the G77, (the G77 is an international coalition of developing countries with, you guessed it,134 members) often emphasize the need for international financing, technology transfer and assistance in building healthcare infrastructure and workforces. The G77 has also stressed that developing countries should have flexibility to design healthcare systems according to their own circumstances. More economically developed countries may instead place greater emphasis on domestic financing and strengthening countries' ability to sustainably fund their own systems, while still supporting international cooperation. The EU, for example, supports international assistance alongside greater domestic health financing.
A second divide concerns the methods of achieving universal health coverage within national systems, with some nations favoring greater state intervention and others advocating for greater private involvement. As already mentioned, there is no need for uniform systems throughout the world, but such divisions in domestic policy are what goals nations might pursue in the development of UHC systems throughout the world.
These two divisions, of which nations may belong to either side, will cause conflict in how different countries view proposals for fulfilling the right to healthcare, and disagreements will have to be either reconciled or one side overcome.
Key Questions when researching your country’s position:
What system does my country use in the provision of healthcare?
Is my country a significant provider or receiver of international healthcare aid?
Is my country a signatory to the ICESR or other relevant international agreements on healthcare?
What stance has my country taken in debates on international healthcare provision in the past?
What are my country’s significant allies, who might influence its votes in the GA?
Questions a resolution should answer:
What steps can the UN take to guarantee the right to healthcare?
Are changes needed to the international financing of healthcare?
How might primary healthcare be strengthened, especially in less economically developed countries?
What steps can be taken to improve the training of healthcare professionals?
How can the UN enhance transparency and accountability in the provision of healthcare?
Recommended Countries:
Argentina
Brazil
China
Costa Rica
Cuba
France
Germany
India
The Netherlands
Nigeria
Rwanda
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
Deadlines:
Working Papers: the end of Second Session on 07.10.26
Draft Resolutions: the end of third Session on 14.10.26
