A Lancet Commission has released a report that revisits the case for investing in health and offers a new investment framework to achieve dramatic health gains by 2035.
A Lancet Commission has released a report that revisits the case for investing in health and offers a new investment framework to achieve dramatic health gains by 2035. Global health 2035: a world converging within a generation was prompted by the 20th anniversary of the 1993 World Development Report, the first such report to focus on health and widely cited over the past two decades.
“This report provides perspectives that are urgently needed with the approach of the deadline for reaching Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the changing funding landscape for health”, says José Luis Castro, Interim Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union). Although tremendous progress has been made towards MDGs 4–6, the report shows that a very high preventable burden of infectious, maternal and child mortality will remain by 2015.
It further states that development assistance budgets have become strained after a “golden age”, but the economic growth of many low-income and middle-income countries means that they are more able to increase their own health investments.
The shift in the burden of disease away from infectious diseases and towards non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries is another major change detailed in the report.
In low- and middle-income countries, this shift means they now face heavy burdens of infections, NCDs, and injuries, with tremendous health and financial consequences for households and societies. In addition, emerging global threats include antimicrobial resistance, new pandemics, emerging infections and global climate change.
The Lancet Commission set out to answer the question: how should low-income and middle-income countries and their development partners target their future investments in health to tackle this complex array of challenges? The resulting report has four key messages:
- There is an enormous payoff from investing in health
- A “grand convergence” in health is achievable within our lifetimes
- Fiscal policies are a powerful and underused lever for curbing non-communicable diseases and injuries
- Progressive universalism, a pathway to universal health coverage (UHC) is an efficient way to achieve health and financial protection.
“This report outlines an approach that is both practical and visionary”, says Castro. “The Union’s work in tobacco control has demonstrated the impact that increasing taxes has on both tobacco usage and the related health consequences. This type of financial policy turned to support health can have outcomes once only dreamed of”.