The G20’s top health and health financing experts will assemble in Tokyo on the eve of the Osaka G20 heads of government summit to urge government leaders and health and finance ministers to boost investment in the health of their citizens in order to promote sustainable economic development.
The G20 Health and Development Partnership is made up of over 16 global partnerships representing over 1000 organisations worldwide and will hold their annual Health 20 (H20) summit meeting in Tokyo on the 24th of June 2019.
The H20 summit will examine health spending on innovation as an investment and the driver of economic growth.
Senior representatives from public private partnership’s, NGOs, senior politicians from G20 countries, the private sector, pharma and academic institutions will consider how funding health innovation and Research & Development, to combat drug resistant diseases, diseases related to ageing and diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, can be boosted and scaled-up through blended and new public private partnership funding mechanisms.
Participants of the H20 summit will also make recommendations on how innovation in digital health can be scaled up to support healthy lives and well-being for citizens.
Alan Donnelly the Convenor of the G20 Health and Development Partnership said:
“The Japanese presidency of the G20 has helped to lift health to the top of the political agenda. It is essential therefore that next week the finance ministers and the heads of government act upon the clear evidence that demonstrates that investments in health innovation can have a dramatic impact on human capital and sustainable growth in low, middle- and high-income economies.”
“There are new and innovative ways of funding developments in health which involve consumers and the private sector. These innovative forms of finance are scalable and can generate significant new resources to tackle the growing disease burden.”
Willo Brock, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, TB Alliance said:
“A report published in May 2019 by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) emphasizes the need for global action to address the threat of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), the leading contributor to deaths from antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The EIU analysis shows that the annual death toll from DR-TB is estimated to cost the global economy at least US$17.8 billion in future GDP loss. Heads of State at the UN General Assembly have agreed to act and close the funding gap for both delivery of care and R&D, both urgent needs that will largely affect the G20. It is time for Finance and Health Ministers of the G20 to follow through on this commitment through strong collaboration and the establishment of alternative funding approaches for innovation to eradicate tuberculosis on a global scale. It is possible, when we decide to act.”
Dr Ricardo Baptista Leite, Member of the Portuguese Parliament and President of UNITE said:
“Health needs to be perceived as an economic tool capable of generating inclusive growth, productivity, equity, social justice and happiness. Investing in health is cost-effective and can actively contribute to the sustainability of health systems by actively diminishing the burden of disease. Investing in health is the most relevant driver towards accomplishing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.” The H20 Summit will discuss the G20’s important leadership role in examining new and innovative ways of generating the additional resources necessary to fund innovation in its widest sense in tackling both infectious and non-communicable diseases.”