Abstract

The commentary discusses the importance of developing Universal Health Coverage strategies through the lens of complex systems framework that evaluates policies not only in terms of the final desired outcome but also as an interplay of disparate views among diverse actors in the system. This view also confers a degree of agency and autonomy on the individual actors, whether they be patients or healthcare workers, and necessitates the inclusion of bottom-up participatory process in the development of UHC policies and interventions. These are consistent with the Primary Health Care principles articulated in the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration and will need to be integrated into the health system development framework to achieve UHC. Ultimately, this approach would encourage the creation of a more cooperative and adaptive policy environment in which each actor is encouraged to collaborate and are nudged toward a desirable outcome rather than through coercive means.