Giving Compass' Take:

• In this Global Citizen post, a Harvard doctor who has trained surgeons around the world discusses why the global health system needs an overhaul and how we can expand access to life-saving surgical care.

• How can funders and international aid groups help close the healthcare gaps in developing nations? One takeaway here is that many procedures that can help communities thrive and survive are low cost.

• Read more about the need to beat five specific diseases on the path to universal health coverage.

"The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic, or social condition."

These are the words written in the Constitution of the World Health Organization adopted in 1946. Seven decades later, many governments still struggle to ensure this.

To empower all women, children, and adolescents to live their full potential, the Global Financing Facility (GFF) aids governments in resource-poor countries to transform the way they prioritize and finance health issues in their country.

Through guidance from the GFF, governments aim to provide universal health coverage (UHC), including access to affordable surgical, anesthesia, and maternal care, when needed.

Global Citizen spoke with Dr. Kee B. Park, a Paul Farmer Global Surgery Scholar and faculty member at the Harvard Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC), to discuss the role of the GFF and global citizens in achieving UHC.

Read the full article about the Harvard doctor pushing for universal health coverage by Shion Seino at Global Citizen.