UN Political Declaration on UHC 2023 - Rare Diseases International

On September 21, at the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting, world leaders approved a new Political Declaration on “Universal Health Coverage expanding our ambition for health and well-being in a post-COVID world.” RDI applauds this milestone and Rare Diseases being included in the scope but call on Member States to make UHC a reality for PLWRD.

The political will is here, the rare diseases community in regions and in countries is engaging with their governments and all stakeholders to translate global commitments into action:

Time to prioritize rare diseases by developing and implementing national plans by engaging the community and dedicated budget
To integrate rare diseases into primary healthcare plan and UHC package
To dedicate more funding for health system strengthening
To look at public private partnership to scale up access to treatment and care
To increase newborn screening and diagnostic capacity, education and training
To have a global framework on rare diseases which encompasses those priorities to support and leverage national and regional actions for PLWRD adopted by the World Health Assembly