Positioning Health as a Foundation for Social and Economic Development

This constituency statement was led and delivered by NCD Alliance, with contributions from the World Heart Federation, under agenda item 26 - Economics of Health for All - at the 158^th session of the WHO Executive Board.

Distinguished delegates,

We welcome WHO's strategy on the Economics of Health for All. The strategy rightly positions health as a foundational investment for social and economic development, challenging the persistent framing of health as a cost.

This is critical for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which drive catastrophic health spending and are projected to cost the global economy US$47 trillion between 2010 and 2030, despite the availability of proven, cost-effective interventions for their prevention, treatment and care.

We commend its emphasis on policy coherence, good governance and accountability across sectors; its call for new multidimensional measures of development beyond GDP; and its recommendations for WHO.

However, it does not yet sufficiently address the influence of commercial determinants on policy. A clearer distinction between public and private economic interests is needed, alongside explicit safeguards to prevent undue influence and the externalization of costs by health-harming industries.

We urge Member States to support the strategy and recommend refinements to:

- Position development of a health taxonomy beyond private investment to support coordinated action and resource alignment;

- Promote cross-sectoral budgeting that reflects health impacts and the economic value of prevention and early management;

- Strengthen fiscal policy coherence, including through subsidy reforms;

- Elaborate on trade and health, recognizing risks of poorly designed trade liberalization and differing health system capacities;

- Utilise market dynamics for health products and related services, emphasising fair, transparent pricing, and tools such as pooled procurement;

- Reference WHO's NCD Best Buys as priority investments;

- Explicitly recognize the needs of Small Island Developing States; and

- Clarify alignment with other major global health and development agendas.

Thank you.