05/09/2025 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and budgetary constraints, and in the face of worsening inequalities in access to healthcare, the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development today emphasised the importance of promoting universal health coverage (UHC), based on the principle of “leaving no one behind,” and which is a central political commitment of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
According to the report by Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC) adopted by the committee, member states should, to this end, step up action to achieve target 3.8 of Sustainable Development Goal 3 by 2030 and include the objective of UHC as a national political priority, allocating a sufficient budget for its achievement.
The committee called on states to ensure equitable, affordable, and quality access to physical and mental health care – in particular for people in vulnerable situation – and to include within the framework of UHC “comprehensive and accessible services for prevention, sexual, reproductive and mental health, as well as support for victims of sexual violence”.
Parliamentarians also recommended that states leverage Council of Europe instruments and refer to the Council's human rights standards and activities when developing health policies, in particular the revised European Social Charter and the Oviedo Convention.
Finally, the committee encouraged states to support Council of Europe membership of the UHC2030 multilateral platform, considering that this move “would enhance its contribution to the global alignment of efforts to achieve UHC and provide an opportunity to promote its standards and tools within a multilateral framework”.