New York – Unitaid was among 12 multilateral organizations to participate Tuesday in the launch of the Global Action Plan (GAP) for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All, an initiative to strengthen collaboration to help countries move faster toward universal health coverage.
Developed over 18 months, the plan outlines how the signatory organizations will work together to be more efficient and provide more streamlined support to countries to deliver universal health coverage, a prerequisite to reaching United Nations health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
The GAP plan cautions that global health goals cannot be met doing business as usual—that smarter, better ways of working must be adopted, and complemented by innovative tools and technologies. The plan also provides a structured way for each of the organizations to contribute their special expertise to the immense challenge of universal health coverage.
Exploring and piloting health innovations—Unitaid’s central activity—is seen as essential to achieving universal health coverage. In a political declaration approved at Monday’s High-level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage, leaders pledged to promote and encourage innovation in medicines, diagnostics and financing.
“Innovation is key to reaching global health goals,” Unitaid Executive Director Lelio Marmora said. “Working together, we inspire each other, we spark new ideas, and we align our efforts to overcome challenges on the ground. With the Global Action Plan our work stands to make a greater impact.”
Present for the event were the agreement’s 12 signatories: GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF), the Global Fund, UNAIDS, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF, Unitaid, UN Women, World Bank Group, World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Related publications
- Watch this special video featuring leaders of the Global Action Plan
- Link to WHO media release
- Global Action Plan, WHO report
- Global Action Plan, WHO web page
For more information:
- Carol MASCIOLA, masciolac@unitaid.who.int