In preparation for the UN General Assembly high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage, talking place on 23rd September 2019, an interactive multi-stakeholder hearing was convened at the United Nations in New York, on 29th April 2019. AMSA’s presence consisted of a delegation of five (from left): Natalie Ward, Vuong Phan, Zoe Byrne, Isabelle Nehme and Gavin Wayne (not pictured).

Deciding on how best to represent AMSA, position the organisation at the meeting, and advocate for our continued involvement at high-level meetings, the team met at the stunning New York Public Library to discuss the approach at the next day’s meeting. With the hearing featuring delegates with expertise on many facets of UHC, but very few youth or student organisations represented, we decided to focus on highlighting the unique perspective that AMSA can bring to the discussion. With that in mind, we developed a policy brief particularly focusing on the importance of youth representation, active engagement in decision-making processes and representing Indigenous and Rural populations.

1. Youth and students play a pivotal role in the future workforce and delivering UHC, and should thereby be supported in their capacity to contribute to relevant processes;
2. In realising UHC, policies should strive to be truly ‘universal’ – all peoples should have equitable access to a high-quality system: In particular, Indigenous and underserved populations should be empowered in their autonomy to cater healthcare to their individual needs.
3. Healthcare professionals have a professional responsibility in advocating for the realisation of UHC.

With our position sorted, we set out to explore New York and prepare ourselves for an early start and a full day at the UN.

Before the meeting started, the team came across Batool Wahdani, the current President of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), who was due to be a panelist in Session 2 of the meeting. It was wonderful to see that youth and medical student representation was given a prominent international presence.

The meeting ran in three sessions, “UHC as a driver for inclusive development and prosperity”, “Leave No One Behind – UHC as a commitment to equity”, and “Multi-sectoral and Multi-stakeholder Action and investments for UHC”, with the first session moderated by journalist Femi Oke, and the next two by journalist Zain Verjee. During each session, diverse panellists were invited to discuss issues related to UHC, from a personal or professional perspective, as well as to answer questions submitted by members of the audience, and a selection of the statements submitted by non-state actors were also read.