Over the past two decades, the world has made significant progress in global health, with millions gaining access to essential services and a decline in maternal and child mortality. Yet, momentum toward universal health coverage (UHC) has stalled; in 2023, 4.6 billion people still lack access to essential health services. The COVID‑19 pandemic exposed weaknesses in health systems, and economic pressures, demographic change, and the climate crisis are stretching these systems beyond their limits.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to achieve UHC by 2030, but the world is not on track. According to the UHC Global Monitoring Report 2025, the global UHC service‑coverage index will remain below 80, and nearly one in four people will continue to face health‑related financial hardship in 2030. This shortfall is not because UHC is unachievable, but because the systems designed to deliver it have not kept pace with today’s complex and large‑scale health challenges.
Digital health offers a transformational opportunity to regain momentum toward UHC. Rapidly evolving digital technologies can strengthen primary health care, improve service quality, support health workers, and extend care to underserved communities. However, the promise of digital health will be realized only if countries create the right conditions for success—through political leadership, legislation, regulation, financing, and accountability.
The Transform Health Roadmap, launched on December 12 2025, provides a collective agenda for how digital transformation can accelerate progress toward UHC. Developed through an inclusive, multi‑sector process, the Roadmap outlines a framework for creating an enabling environment for digital health solutions. It emphasizes country‑owned, people‑centered, and equitable digital transformation, positioning UHC and digital transformation as inherently political commitments.
The next five years will be crucial in determining whether the world moves closer to health for all or sees inequalities deepen further. By adopting and implementing the Roadmap to 2030, countries can strengthen their foundations for UHC, build resilient and future‑ready health systems, and ensure that digital transformation contributes to the promise of the SDGs. With the right political will, aligned investments, strong governance, and an unwavering commitment to equity and inclusion, digital health can help deliver on the promise of UHC by 2030.
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