SPOTLIGHT ON WELL-BEING
Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, has highlighted why markets must be shaped to deliver equity, social capital and sustainability. Investors with assets worth over $5 trillion have pledged to embed health in their investment decisions. Yet more needs to be done to ensure the health component is clearly situated alongside the environmental, social, governance elements (from ESG to ESHG). COMMITTED TO WELL-BEING Countries in the WHO European Region have been showing how a commitment to well-being across government can be used to deliver fairer, more prosperous societies. Indeed, investing in well-being also delivers better performance on traditional measures of economic performance. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, Iceland has invested in supporting people with high levels of debt or low income, and has seen growth in gross domestic product often above 4% and low unemployment. It recently connected its fiscal strategy with well-being priorities. Many more countries are using indicators of well-being that go beyond pure GDP to measure progress. Indicators include measures of mental well-being, trust, living wages, circular economies and balanced development as key markers of successful societies. Luxembourg recently used its index of welfare and the WHO’s model of a well-being economy to set out a future vision for its health system. This growing movement towards well-being economies recognises the significant contributions that health, well-being and equity make to economies and society. Significantly, addressing health inequities across most EU countries would also reduce the nearly €1 trillion in avoidable welfare losses each year. Fairer, more cohesive well-being economies are critical to securing more stable societies and delivering more effective public policies. The benefits of better health and well-being multiply across the SDGs. Poor health costs the United Kingdom over £100 billion annually, related to absence from work and inability to work. Health services have a high employment multiplier effect and are more resilient to economic shocks than other sectors.
It is therefore encouraging that the health, finance and economy sectors increasingly find common ground on shared well-being priorities and challenges. In June 2023, the WHO Regional Office for Europe partnered with the Bank of Italy and Italian National Institute of Health to convene central banks, finance and health officials along with leading experts – with the aim of creating healthy and fiscally resilient societies. The first meeting focused on modelling the fiscal implications of improving youth mental health and inclusion and the costs of inaction; future areas of focus include ageing and regional inequalities. Already innovative modelling is connecting health and the economy and this can be built in to enable policymaking for healthy, financially resilient societies. These developments are leading into the Summit of the Future 2024, driving a surge in financing for sustainable, prosperous and healthy lives. Countries must consider measuring progress beyond GDP to include well-being, equity, trust and cohesion, and ensure the interests of the coming generations are included in decisions. Health, equity and well-being are vital leverage points for delivering the broader SDGs. FOR PEOPLE TO THRIVE We need to invest to create secure lives where people can thrive, be healthy and play a meaningful role in society. This includes innovative social protection that transforms the lives of those falling behind, leveraging the health equity and technological gains from green and digital investments, and using employment, education and procurement policies to deliver social value and better places where people live, work and learn. We can achieve this by using new instruments to unlock the health equity and well-being dividends from public and private investments, including using the full potential of windfall taxes and wealth taxes, debt swaps and social bonds. It also means involving people in decision-making – this has been linked to lower inequalities in life expectancy, alongside greater trust in governments and innovation. Integrating well-being, equity and healthy societies into government investments is no longer optional. It is essential for a more inclusive and sustainable future, where people matter. The challenges we face are significant, formidable, even
overwhelming. However, to paraphrase Dickens, “these are the best of times, these are the worst of times” – the forecast depends on how one views both challenge and opportunity. With political determination, through relentlessly focusing on ensuring people’s needs and voices are at the heart of our approach – making people truly matter – we can together unlock progress on Health For All, the vision that underpins the WHO, and through Health For All achieve wider gains across the SDGs. ▪ delivering health and well-being for all, and
HANS HENRI P KLUGE Hans Henri P Kluge has been World Health Organization Regional Director for Europe since 2020. He leads the implementation of the European Programme of Work 2020–2025. A native of Belgium with over 25 years’ experience in medical practice and public health, he joined the WHO in 1999 as project manager in the Russian Federation. After serving as medical officer and team lead in Myanmar between 2004 and 2009, he moved to the Regional Office for Europe, and the following year was appointed director of the Division of
Health Systems and Public Health. X-TWITTER @hans_kluge who.int/Europe
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Health: A Political Choice – From Fragmentation to Integration
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