Kimario, Kanti AmbroseMuhanga, Mikidadi IddKayunze, Kim Abel2023-06-052023-06-052022-10-252773-675Xhttp://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/5297Journal articleHouseholds’ characteristics should not hinder the progress toward attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC). UHC attainment progress in Kilimanjaro Region involved assessing perceived differences between households’ characteristics and UHC factors (accessibility, affordability, and service delivery quality). The study employed a cross-sectional design involving 384 households and 30 health facilities selected through multi- stage and purposive sampling approaches, respectively. Data were collected through survey questionnaires. Through IBM-SPSS household- based data were analysed using Kruskal Wallis H and Mann Whitney U tests. Health facilities-based data were analysed through Geometric mean computation using MS-Excel to obtain UHC service coverage index. Results indicated: Occupation (p=0.012), general household health condition (GHHC) (p=0.039), health insurance membership (HIM) (p=0.039), and presence of non-communicable disease (p=0.032); GHHC (p=0.041); income (p=0.000), occupation (p= 0.000), education (p=0.004), health check-up frequency (p=0.001), and HIM (p=0.000) were significantly different in health services delivery quality, accessibility, and affordability, respectively. UHC service coverage index was 69.9%, which is fairly good about the WHO recommendation of 80%. Therefore, households’ characteristics can impair health services access and, consequently, impair progress towards UHC attainment. To improve UHC attainment progress, service providers, LGAs and MoH should work towards improving the service domains, which scored below threshold and promotion of universal health insurance.enUniversal health coverageHousehold characteristicsHealth services delivery qualityAccessibilityAffordabilityArticle