Announcements

The International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day) is held annually on 12 December. It aims to work with multi-stakeholder partners to raise awareness of the need to achieve universal health coverage. With the adoption of the United Nations Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage (21 September 2023), this year’s UHC Day provides an opportunity to accelerate commitments to universal health coverage. The theme of UHC Day 2023 is “Health for All: Time for Action”, to call on all policymakers to invest in health systems and primary healthcare and provide affordable and quality healthcare to their citizens.

To further discuss research related to the International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day), the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH, ISSN: 1660-4601) has collected open access academic research on the topic of advancing the coverage of the broader envisioned right to health. We want to use this special day to share new scientific knowledge in the field of the opportunities and challenges associated with achieving universal health coverage.

Article Collection:
1. “Educational Intervention to Improve Citizen’s Healthcare Participation Perception in Rural Japanese Communities: A Pilot Study”
by Ryuichi Ohta, Yoshinori Ryu, Jun Kitayuguchi, Chiaki Sano and Karen D. Könings
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1782; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041782
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1782

2. “A Vision of Future Healthcare: Potential Opportunities and Risks of Systems Medicine from a Citizen and Patient Perspective—Results of a Qualitative Study”
by Clarissa Lemmen, Dusan Simic and Stephanie Stock
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(18), 9879; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189879
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9879

3. “Communication Experiences in Primary Healthcare with Refugees and Asylum Seekers: A Literature Review and Narrative Synthesis”
by Pinika Patel, Sarah Bernays, Hankiz Dolan, Danielle Marie Muscat and Lyndal Trevena
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1469; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041469
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1469

4. ““To Be Treated as a Person and Not as a Disease Entity”—Expectations of People with Visual Impairments towards Primary Healthcare: Results of the Mixed-Method Survey in Poland”
by Katarzyna Weronika Binder-Olibrowska, Maciek Godycki-Ćwirko and Magdalena Agnieszka Wrzesińska
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(20), 13519; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013519
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13519

5. “Health Communication and Inequalities in Primary Care Access during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Ethnic Minorities in the United Kingdom: Lived Experiences and Recommendations”
by Winifred Ekezie, Akilah Maxwell, Margaret Byron, Barbara Czyznikowska, Idil Osman, Katie Moylan, Sarah Gong and Manish Pareek
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(22), 15166; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192215166
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15166

6. “A Scoping Review of Approaches to Improving Quality of Data Relating to Health Inequalities”
by Sowmiya Moorthie, Vicki Peacey, Sian Evans, Veronica Phillips, Andres Roman-Urrestarazu, Carol Brayne and Louise Lafortune
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(23), 15874; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315874
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/15874

7. “First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples Living in Urban Areas of Canada and Their Access to Healthcare: A Systematic Review”
by Simon Graham, Nicole M. Muir, Jocelyn W. Formsma and Janet Smylie
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(11), 5956; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20115956
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/11/5956

8. “Enablers and Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services for Aboriginal People in New South Wales, Australia”
by Davida Nolan-Isles, Rona Macniven, Kate Hunter, Josephine Gwynn, Josephine Gwynn, Rachael Moir, Yvonne Dimitropoulos, Donna Taylor, Tim Agius, Heather Finlayson et al.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(6), 3014; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063014
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/3014

Access more articles at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/search?journal=ijerph.

Call for Papers:
“Healthcare Policy and Population Health: Unpacking the Connections”
Guest Editor: Dr. Tim Tenbensel
Submission deadline: 31 May 2024

“New Insights into Understudied Phenomena in Healthcare”
Guest Editors: Dr. José Manuel Hernández Padilla and Dr. Cayetano Fernández-Sola
Submission deadline: 31 March 2024

Access more Special Issues at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph/special_issues.

Closed Special Issues:
“Using Digital Health Technologies to Improve Healthcare Quality”
Guest Editors: Dr. Anna Janssen and Dr. Melissa Brunner

 “Equity, Access and Use of Health Care Services”
Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Rosa Urbanos-Garrido and Dr. Alexandrina Stoyanova