Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has praised the universal healthcare scheme as a key factor in reducing inequality in the country at a United Nations meeting despite previously slamming the scheme as a "costly populist" policy. Gen Prayut was addressing a meeting, "The Path Towards Universal Health Coverage: Promotion of Equitable Global Health and Human Security in the Post-2015 Development Agenda", held as part of the UN General Assembly in New York. He told the assembly investment in health was equivalent to investment for the betterment of the entire nation because public health was a key mechanism for sustainable development, and praised the notion of universal coverage.