Putting health first at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

We joined global leaders at the World Economic Forum 2024 Annual Meeting to elevate health on the global agenda, advocating to strengthen health systems and transform healthcare delivery.

Over the last several decades, scientific innovation has led to remarkable strides in medicine and healthcare enabling people to live longer, healthier lives and fuelling economic prosperity. A McKinsey report highlights that one-third of economic growth1 in advanced economies in the past century can be attributed to improvements in health and in developing countries, for every $1 invested in health, Brookings found a possible economic return of between $2 to $42.

Today, however, healthcare around the world is strained. Over-stretched health systems are struggling to meet the needs of ageing populations and address the growing burden of chronic disease, and health inequities are growing in low- and high-income countries, driven in part by the climate crisis.

With more ground-breaking medical advancements on the horizon, health systems must keep pace so that patients can benefit from these innovations. That’s why we joined leaders from around the world at the 2024 World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting – to put health at the heart of a sustainable future.


Learn more about the interconnection between climate change, resilience and health equity in the below video.


Strengthening health systems and transforming healthcare

During the WEF Annual Meeting, we met with government leaders, multilateral organisations and civil society to advocate for action to strengthen health systems so they can meet the population health needs of today and tomorrow.  

This can be achieved by: 

  • Recognising health as a long-term investment in the future, not a short-term cost; 
  • Acting early to prevent, diagnose and treat disease;
  • Prioritising scientific innovation to unlock the potential digital, data and technology; and 
  • Building climate-resilient, net zero health systems, addressing the effects of climate change on health.  

Shining a spotlight on climate, resilience and equity

Through key engagements, our leadership highlighted the urgent need to build health system resilience and sustainability to address current and future health needs, noting the lessons learned from COVID-19 and the cost of inaction.

With fresh warnings from the World Health Organization (WHO) that an unknown “Disease X” could result in 20 times more fatalities than the coronavirus pandemic, Michel Demaré, our Non-Executive Chair of the Board, joined a mainstage panel on “Preparing for Disease X.” Alongside Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO, the panel explored practical solutions to strengthen health systems, including evidence-based recommendations from the Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience.

We also convened global health and environmental leaders on the topic of improving health system resilience in the face of climate change alongside Dr. Vanessa Kerry, CEO, Seed Global Health and WHO Director-General Special Envoy on Climate and Health. With a particular focus on financing, this roundtable discussion explored how to deploy funding to accelerate impactful, equitable and scalable interventions.  

Additionally, recognising the important role of nature in health and healthcare, we announced that we will be an ‘early adopter’3 of the recommendations from the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). This means we’ll disclose our dependencies, risks and opportunities related to nature from next year. With climate change and biodiversity loss closely interlinked, this shows our commitment to protect and restore ecosystems by lowering the environmental footprint of healthcare while investing in nature and biodiversity.


Dr. Vanessa Kerry

CEO of Seed Global Health and World Health Organization special envoy for climate and health, at a roundtable co-hosted by AstraZeneca and Seed Global Health

Michel Demaré

Non-Executive Chair of the Board, AstraZeneca during a panel on “Preparing for Disease X."

Pam Cheng

Executive Vice President, Global Operations and IT, and Chief Sustainability Officer, AstraZeneca in a ‘Setting Standards for Nature’ session


Accelerating action through partnership

The scope and scale of the challenges facing health systems today require stakeholders from the health sector and beyond to work together. Since the launch of the Sustainable Markets Initiative Health Systems Task Force4 at COP26, partners have taken concrete action to accelerate the transition to net zero healthcare. 

At this year’s WEF Annual Meeting, we, along with four other global healthcare companies, announced an industry-first renewable power agreement5 to decarbonise their operations in China. In partnership with Envision Energy, one of China’s largest renewable energy companies, the agreement will not only save the equivalent in emissions of taking 25,000 cars off the road, but sends a strong demand signal for renewables and establishes a blueprint for collective action to drive decarbonisation at scale. 

By focusing on the interconnected themes of health resilience, climate action and equity and emphasising health as the foundation of prosperous and well-functioning societies, our engagements at the WEF annual meeting aimed to inspire action and collaboration across sectors. By working together, we can act faster and make greater progress.





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References

1. Prioritizing health: A prescription for prosperity | McKinsey [Internet]. www.mckinsey.com. Available from: http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/prioritizing-health-a-prescription-for-prosperity#section-header-1

‌2. Remes J, Wilson M, Ramdorai A. How investing in health has a significant economic payoff for developing economies [Internet]. Brookings. 2020. Available from: http://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-investing-in-health-has-a-significant-economic-payoff-for-developing-economies/

3. Setting Standards for Nature [Internet]. World Economic Forum. 2024 [cited 2024 Feb 6]. Available from: http://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2024/sessions/setting-standards-for-nature/

‌4. Health Systems taskforce [Internet]. Sustainable Markets Initiative. Available from: http://www.sustainable-markets.org/taskforces/health-systems-taskforce/

5. Five global healthcare leaders partner up to access renewable power in China [Internet]. Sustainable Markets Initiative. [cited 2024 Feb 6]. Available from: http://www.sustainable-markets.org/news/five-global-healthcare-leaders-secure-industry-first-multi-party-agreement-to-access-renewable-power-in-china/



tags

  • Sustainability