In the present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 48/141, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights examines how the human rights framework, particularly the rights to health and to social security, can contribute to the conceptualization of universal health coverage and to its implementation. 

The report outlines some of the key human rights challenges of extending universal health coverage, such as access to medicines, deficits in the health work force, the impact of corruption and the very sizeable populations and groups who have been excluded from health coverage. 

The High Commissioner concludes that, in keeping with the character of the right to health as an inclusive right encompassing service delivery and the underlying determinants of health, universal health coverage must incorporate effective access and other determinants of health, as well as formal coverage.