The home of the NHS should be the champion of Universal Health Coverage abroad

In the summer of 2009 a strange thing happened: a Tory MEP helped start a national outpouring of love for the National Health Service (NHS). Although he didn’t do it deliberately.

Daniel Hannan told Fox News that he wouldn’t wish the NHS on anybody. Given that at the time, tens of millions of American’s lacked the most basic of health cover he probably knew his comments would be controversial. What he would not have expected was the strength of the response. The WelovetheNHS campaign became the political story of the summer.

Three years later Danny Boyle’s magnificent Olympic opening ceremony – dismissed as left wing crap by one Tory MP – was just as notable for its celebration of the NHS as it was for a sky-diving monarch.

Whatever its ups and downs we are a country that loves our health service – and quite right too, it’s the envy of the world.

For Labour, of course, the NHS holds a special place in our hearts. For many the abiding achievement of Clement Attlee’s government is our Party’s greatest victory and Nye Bevan our most inspirational figure. We believe that no-one should be refused the healthcare they need because they haven’t got the money to pay for it.

But we in the UK are the lucky ones. Across the rest of the world this debate is still to be won. Many will have followed the battles in the US over Obama-care, but perhaps fewer will have seen that Indonesia last week elected a new President on a ticket of providing a special health card to the entire uninsured population entitling them to the free health care they need.

The politics of healthcare is often complicated but the benefits are clear for all to see.

First – there is firm evidence that countries that have universal health coverage enjoy better health outcomes. But furthermore Oxfam research reveals that cost is a major barrier to well-being. 150 million people face catastrophic healthcare costs every year, while 100 million are pushed into poverty because of direct payments. That’s not right, and we should do all we can to fix it.

This week in New York representatives from around the world are finalising their proposals for a new set of global development goals, and the status of global healthcare is on the agenda.  At the moment – as hard as it is to believe – the UK is not supporting plans to make Universal Health Coverage a top priority ‘goal-level’ ambition. I think that is wrong. The UK must do all it can to push for a commitment on ‘Universal Health Coverage at all ages’ to be included at the very highest level. Access to adequate health care, regardless of wealth, should be a right open to everyone, and if the home of the NHS won’t press that case, then who will?

The UK has a strong record on helping to deliver ambitious global agreements from the Millennium Development Goals to dropping the debt, but today there is a real concern that the isolationism that so delights some the Tory backbenches means that Britain is standing on the side-lines when we should be leading the charge.

The next set of development goals represent a thrilling opportunity to change the world. If we get things right, by 2030 we could eliminate extreme poverty, begin to reverse the terrible effects of climate change and ensure no-one dies because they can’t afford the basic life-saving treatment they need.

From the top-down reorganisation they promised us wouldn’t happen to prominent spokespeople talking down ‘socialised healthcare’, we all know that the Tories have got an NHS problem. But that shouldn’t stop them doing the right thing in New York this week and coming out in full throated support of Universal Health Coverage for all.

There is no time to lose, and millions of lives to save.

Jim Murphy is the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development