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Today, 12 December, 2014 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) day will be officially and globally recognized for the first time. Universal Health Coverage is based on a belief that everyone everywhere should have the best possible health care; and that accessing quality health care - if and when necessary, should not cause anyone financial difficulty. Why it is extremely critical that Ghana embraces Universal Health Coverage? Here are a few ideas for consideration. Now, anyone reading this article should already know that �health care is not a commodity or privilege, but a human right.� Still, it is not a bad thing if Dr. Julio Frenk, the Dean of Harvard University�s School of Public Health, who we just quoted, gives a reminder. Yes, Dr. Frenk is a strong supporter of Universal Health Coverage. And, standing beside him holding aloft the banner of Universal Health Coverage, is Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization. In her own words: �Universal health coverage: the single most powerful concept public health has to offer�. Yet we don�t have to leave Ghana to get this insight. Public Health and Hygiene Behaviour Change Specialist, Mrs. Martha Osei, has always maintained that "adequate access to portable water and proper sanitation is the viable foundation for good health; achieving universal health without these is impossible". According to myjoyoline.com, the Ghana Health Services is considering introducing two cholera Vaccines next year and perhaps focusing their use especially in the areas that were hardest hit by the cholera epidemic this year. At WaterAid Ghana we are troubled by this thinking and hope that a quick fix which can hardly address a symptom is not mistaken for a substantive solution. You may be wondering what the cholera epidemic has to do with Universal Health Coverage. Well, this year�s cholera epidemic placed in stark relief the massive negative consequences to public health when the foundations of an effective health system is ignored: WASH; In other words, access to adequate and appropriate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) is the foundation for an effective health care system. Now building a universal health coverage system is extremely important for realizing the rights to all to the best possible health. Therefore, achieving a �Better Ghana Agenda� would have to include support for universal health coverage, but this must also include the realization that systematic investment in the provision of not only water, but sanitation,and culturally sensitive hygiene promotion is central to promotive and preventative health which are the starting point for ensuring public health and safety. For curative health to function well, access to WASH is also of critical importance. This is why WaterAid Ghana is very concerned that the Ghana Health Service is considering investing in vaccines against cholera. It is possible that in emergencies, for example, the use of vaccinations could be considered. However, minimizing, if not preventing, the outbreaks of cholera and other diseases spread by fecal-oral route, requires provision of adequate sanitation, potable water, and effective hygiene promotion in culturally sensitive ways. WaterAid Ghana is pleased to see that the Ghana Health Service is concerned with the plight of those most effective by cholera. The data indicates clearly that those most affected were mainly marginalized people, people living in informal settlements with little security of tenure and with low incomes. However, securing the lives of those most at risk of contracting cholera will not in the short or long term be best realized by vaccinations. This is a band-aid solution that solves little if anything. For example, do cholera vaccinations prevent contracting worms (soil transmitted helminths)? Will these cholera vaccinations being considered reduce infant and maternal mortality by reducing sepsis? Honest answers to these questions are likely to be no. Thus, WaterAid Ghana strongly hopes that the Ghana Health Service resists the lure of the quick fix and focuses on the basics, the proven foundation of every good health system --the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene. We recognize that WASH is not within the ambit of the Ghana Health Service or the Ministry of Health. Yet, the provision of WASH is central to the realization of the Ghana Health Service�s objectives. Therefore, it and the Ministry of Heath have important roles to play in fostering greater collaboration and coordination between the relevant ministries and their respective agencies. Working in �ministerial silos� is not effective, it defeats meeting the needs of the good people in Ghana. Universal Health Coverage is an opportunity for all to do what is necessary to embed WASH deeply into our health care system. More than preventing cholera is at stake. Prioritizing the place of water, sanitation and hygiene as we build a universal health coverage system, which is particularly focused on the most marginalized, is a most important step in securing the health of the nation. Today, Universal Health Coverage day, WaterAid Ghana proudly stands with all those working to institute universal health coverage in Ghana and were mind all that the rights of everyone, everywhere, to health is only possible when the rights to water, sanitation, and hygiene are realized. Dr. Afia Zakiya is the Country Representative of WaterAid Ghana and Dr. Chaka Uzondu is the WASH and Health Focal Person.