WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All: Health and wellbeing are a central goal and the economy is a tool for achieving it
The Council on the Economics of Health for All, which was established on the initiative of WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , published its final report at a side event held jointly by Finland and the World Health Organization (WHO) on 23 May 2023.
Finland has provided both political and financial support for the Council’s work, which is why State Secretary Eila Mäkipää, who represented the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, gave the opening speech at the event. She thanked the Council consisting of distinguished economists for drawing attention to what really matters:
“Health is a human right. People’s wellbeing must be the ultimate goal of all economic activity. We cannot view health and wellbeing only as an instrumental value increasing our GDP. Rather, the economy should be seen as a tool that must be used wisely so that we can promote everyone’s right to health and wellbeing as effectively as possible,” says Mäkipää.
Investments in health for all are important for economic success: They increase the human and social capital of national economies, which improve the wellbeing and productivity of workforce and its ability to cooperate and, consequently, the sustainability of economies and the stability of societies. We still have a great deal of work to do to meet the global sustainable development commitments and to ensure that no one is left behind.
Placing Health for All at the centre of decision-making
The Council on the Economics of Health for All was tasked with reframing the thinking behind economic policies and economics so as to make people’s health and wellbeing the central goal. Based on its research work, the Council recommends changes to how to approach the economy nationally and internationally, how to measure progress, how to fund and target measures that promote wellbeing and health and how to create competence and innovate.
In its work, the Council focused on four key factors in taking forward the economy of wellbeing approach:
- Developing indicators for economic poduction: The indicators for the productivity of national economies must be reformed to support wellbeing goals.
- Financing Health for All: The quality and quantity of investments in health must be developed.
- Innovating for Health for All: Public and private sector operators must cooperate in developing health innovations and direct them for the common good to ensure that as many people as possible can enjoy the benefits of new innovations.
- Strengthening public sector capacity to make health and wellbeing accessible to all: We must recognise that all ministries can promote the goal of Health for All through their own actions. It is essential to invest in health-promoting competence and the ability to cooperate at all sectors and levels, as well as in the transparency and accountability of governments in relation to people.
The working group’s full report is available on the WHO website:
Inquiries:
Annika Launiala, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 163 053, firstname.lastname@gov.fi
Timo Voipio, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 163 467, firstname.lastname@gov.fi