Ministerial Meeting on Universal Health Coverage - Opening Address

Foreword

Welcome to the Singapore Ministerial Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Good healthcare is crucial for the welfare of citizens, and the economic prosperity and social stability of every country. A healthy population can achieve the best for themselves and their families, and contribute to social, cultural and economic progress. UHC is important for grooming a healthy population, by ensuring that everyone has access to good healthcare.

As the Director-General of the World Health Organization noted, “UHC is the single most powerful concept that public health has to offer”. The journey towards UHC helps to bring together many key themes in the delivery of healthcare such as investing in strong public health and sanitation infrastructure, encouraging healthy lifestyles and active ageing, developing skilled manpower, as well as improving the sustainability of health systems.

While discussions about UHC often revolve around healthcare financing systems, the real challenges extend much broader, beyond the healthcare sector. Delivering UHC is possible only when we get our fundamentals right, such as having a strong and secure country, reliable and safe sources of food and water, good public infrastructure, and basic education for all.

There are many routes towards UHC, and every country faces unique challenges in their journey to deliver UHC. We can learn from one another, and from experts who study and compare our systems. As we face rapidly ageing demographics and increasing healthcare costs, all of us will need to come up with creative solutions to tackle the health challenges of tomorrow. I believe this meeting will be an enriching forum for everyone and I hope you will be able to go back home with some useful ideas to consider for your country.

I also hope that you have some time to explore our garden city and visit some of the attractions Singapore has to offer.

I wish everyone a pleasant stay in Singapore.

MR LEE HSIEN LOONG
Prime Minister
Republic of Singapore