Celebrating World Day of Social Justice: Webinar on implementation modalities to achieve universal social health insurance coverage in Asia

Background

To mark the occasion of the 2026 World Day of Social Justice, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the ASEAN Institute for Health Development at the Mahidol University join forces to host a webinar to spotlight international experience and best practices to achieving universal social health insurance coverage in Asia.

Across the Asia and the Pacific region, some 61.9 per cent of the population was protected by social health protection in 2023, meaning that just under 40 per cent of the population lacks financial protection when accessing healthcare services. These figures hide wide variations in coverage between countries the region.

Gaps in coverage are typically concentrated amongst workers in informal employment – who represent 65 per cent of the employment in the region – as well as amongst vulnerable groups, including those living below the poverty line.

Closing these social health protection coverage gaps is a priority to making progress towards the twin objectives of Universal Social Protection (USP) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

In support of these objectives, the webinar will draw from international experience to explore the types of design features and administrative modalities that can support social health insurance schemes to reach workers in informal employment and vulnerable groups, and thus make progress towards universal coverage.

Joined by a distinguished panel of experts from across the region, the webinar will aim to:

• Present key findings from an international review of design features and administrative modalities of social health insurance schemes to reaching workers in informal employment and vulnerable groups.
• Showcase country experiences from countries in the region and the success factors to making progress towards universal social health insurance coverage.
• Provide a platform to promote dialogue on fostering inclusive policies and approaches towards meeting the SDGs.