The Commonwealth Health Report 2020 comes at a time when health is in the headlines across the world. Coronavirus, declared a global health emergency by the WHO, is putting huge pressure on countries’ health services, and reinforces the need to build stronger health systems for universal health coverage. It is also a stark reminder of the importance of international collaboration, political commitment and knowledge sharing – to deal not only with health emergencies, but to increase life expectancy, reduce maternal and child mortality, fight against leading communicable diseases and address the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases.
