• The article investigates the impact of expanding Universal Health Coverage (UHC) on infant mortality rates in Low- and Middle-Income countries (LMICs).

• It finds that while UHC expansion is linked to reduced infant mortality, the benefits are often skewed towards wealthier populations.

• The analysis emphasizes the importance of the UHC service coverage index in affecting infant mortality rates across different wealth quintiles

• The study included over 4 million births in 60 LMICs (2000-2019) and found that each one-unit increase in the UHC index reduced infant mortality by 1.2% (0.57 fewer deaths per 1000 live births), preventing an estimated 15.5 million infant deaths.

• Initially, UHC expansion benefited poorer populations more, but this advantage decreased with broader coverage.

• That is, early UHC expansion led to larger mortality reductions in the poorest quintile (0.84 fewer deaths per 1000) compared to the wealthiest (0.59), but as coverage increased, reductions became more similar across both groups (quintile 1: 0.64; quintile 5: 0.57).

• Significant disparities in antenatal care coverage and quality exist across 63 LMICs, underscoring the need to improve maternal healthcare to enhance maternal and child health outcomes.

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