The 2019 Global Monitoring Report comes out on the eve of the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage at the United Nations General Assembly. On the upside, the report documents global progressin expanding access to essential health services. It shows that all regions and all income groups have made improvements, with lower income countries making the greatest gains. On the downside, poorer countries still lag behind, and the overall pace of progress is slowing. The report also reveals that more people are incurring significant financial hardship to pay for essential health services. In countries with higher public expenditures on health, however, people are better protected.

For the first time, the report focuses on gender issues, shedding light on how gender norms and power influence access to health services. Having the right data, broken down in the right way, is giving us vital insights about who is being left behind and why, and highlighting where more investments are needed.