JAPAN / GUTERRES UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE

STORY: JAPAN / GUTERRES UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE
TRT: 01:57
SOURCE: UNIC TOKYO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 14 DECEMBER 2017, TOKYO, JAPAN

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, conference hall
2. Zoom in, Secretary-General António Guterres walks up to the podium
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Health is both an outcome and a driver of progress. It is at the centre of our vision of a more sustainable, inclusive and prosperous future. And it is central to the peace and security agenda. When we invest in health – particularly of women and adolescents – we build more inclusive and resilient societies.”
4. Wide shot, family photo
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We have made historic progress on a variety of health challenges. More women have access to modern contraception. Vaccination levels are up. More people living with HIV have access to anti-retrovirals. More people at risk of malaria are sleeping under an insecticide-treated nets. And an end to diseases such as polio is within sight. However, gross inequities continue to leave the most vulnerable behind. For too many, health is inaccessible, unaffordable or altogether unavailable.”
6. Wide shot, family photo
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Health is a right for all. In a new development era, we must have more streamlined and sustainable financing for health that leverages linkages across sectors. We know that every $1 spent on health yields up to $20 in full-income growth within a generation. Political commitment will be critical to unlocking these investments. There is of course no ‘one size fits all’ solution, and each country must walk its own path toward universal health coverage.”
8. Wide shot, family photo

STORYLINE:

Health is everyone's right and a driver of economic development, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stressed today (14 Dec), expressing the UN's readiness to help countries move towards health coverage for all.

Guterres told the global Universal Health Coverage Forum 2017, currently taking place in Tokyo, Japan that “health is both an outcome and a driver of progress” and it is “at the centre of our vision of a more sustainable, inclusive and prosperous future.”

He said that “when we invest in health – particularly of women and adolescents – we build more inclusive and resilient societies.”

The Secretary-General noted that in recent decades “we have made historic progress on a variety of health challenges,” including in contraception, and vaccination levels, as well as fighting HIV, malaria, and polio.

However, he said, “gross inequities continue to leave the most vulnerable behind. For too many, health is inaccessible, unaffordable or altogether unavailable.”

Guterres said “health is a right for all” and noted “every $1 spent on health yields up to $20 in full-income growth within a generation.”

He said, “political commitment will be critical to unlocking these investments” and stressed that “there is of course no ‘one size fits all’ solution, and each country must walk its own path toward universal health coverage.”

The Secretary-General commended Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's announcement of $2.9 billion to fund universal health coverage programmes in developing countries.

The Secretary-General will convene a General Assembly high-level meeting on universal health coverage in 2019.