Your Excellency Nísia Trindade Lima,
Eila Mäkipää, Secretary of Health of Finland,
Excellencies, distinguished Council Members, Country Delegations, dear colleagues and friends,
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Council on the Economics of Health for All, and especially its chair, Mariana Mazzucato, for her bold leadership. She is a true thought leader.
This comprehensive report reflects the remarkable efforts of 10 leading economists, public health, finance, and development professionals over the past two years.
It aims to challenge existing perceptions, debunk old myths, and pave the way for a world where the health of people and the planet, takes precedence.
The Council members have worked to reframe how economic and financial systems and policies can be reoriented in such a way to deliver on the ambitious goal of Health for All.
This report presents evidence-based recommendations focused on four key drivers of change:
First, re-imagining the measures of economic development to be centred on people and planet;
Second, enhancing both the quality and quantity of financing for health and wellbeing;
Third, fostering equity-focused governance for new vaccines and treatments;
And fourth, building the necessary capacities in government and society to deliver Health for All.
The report reveals that many of the structural inequities that were exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic existed long before its onset and will persist unless we take decisive action.
It is crucial to increase investments in prevention and ensure equitable access to health innovations, with a steadfast commitment to the common good and the recognition of healthy societies as intrinsic contributors to collective well-being.
This report arrives at a pivotal moment, as it addresses several topics that are on the agenda of this World Health Assembly.
Yesterday, for example, there was a roundtable discussion on Member State-led processes to strengthen pandemic, preparedness, and response.
The Council’s work on global health security and innovative financial instruments can inform that discussion.
Today, we held a roundtable discussion investment in the health and care workforce – two-thirds of which are women.
For this investment to increase, it is urgent to value paid and unpaid care and to account for health as an investment, not a cost.
The latter is one of the Council’s central tenets.
The Council on the Economics of Health for All, through this landmark report, has outlined what governments should do to increase their ability to achieve Health for All.
This also includes active dialogue between the finance, economy and health sectors, including high level and senior policy leaders and civil society representatives.
I look forward to the discussions among Member States on how to incorporate local and national contexts in the design of policies that are technically rigorous, politically feasible, and practical to implement.
Based on these discussions, I will personally see how the Secretariat can integrate these recommendations, so that WHO can provide appropriate technical guidance to countries to move forward in this global challenge.
Once again, I extend my deepest gratitude to the Council’s Chair, Professor Mazzucato, and to every Council Member.
I want to give a special welcome to those Council members who have joined us here tonight: Professor Mazzucato, Jayati Ghosh, Professor Ilona Kickbusch, and Dr Senait Fesseha.
This report charts a path for how we can achieve the goal of Health for All, through creative, collaborative, and courageous action to reorient economies that value health as an investment in a better future for all.
I thank you.