Global Health and Healthcare Strategic Outlook: Shaping the Future of Health and Healthcare

17 Jan 2024

An insights report from the World Economic Forum, on the global health and healthcare challenges for the future, with a strategic outlook towards 2035.

Several challenges have faced healthcare globally over the past years, from the COVID-19 pandemic to social, economic, geopolitical and environmental difficulties. This is increasing the pressure on healthcare systems, particularly impacting vulnerable populations and healthcare workers.

The WEF’s strategic outlook sets out a vision for health and healthcare in 2035. It consists of 4 main strategic pillars, with equity as the foundational goal:

  1. Equitable access and outcomes
    • Equilibrating access to determinants of health, ensuring health data is representative of the population and people with equal needs achieve equal health outcomes.
  2. Healthcare system transformation
    • Structuring resilient healthcare systems to provide high-quality care under both expected and unexpected circumstances.
  3. Technology and innovation
    • Cultivating an environment that supports funding, use and implementation of innovation in science and medicine
  4. Environmental sustainability
    • Reducing the healthcare industry’s environmental impact, preparing for and addressing climate change for better health and wellness

The strategic outlook also identifies 8 potential “levers” which public and private stakeholders may employ to help overcome the challenges affecting healthcare systems:

  • Cross-industry collaboration
  • Digitalization, artificial intelligence and big data
  • Global collaboration
  • Policy and advocacy
  • Public-private partnerships
  • Innovative funding models
  • Patient empowerment
  • Targeted/selective decentralization

Ultimately, stakeholders across sectors, industries and geographies need to work separately and in partnership, to shape health and healthcare systems which are equitable, resilient, innovative and sustainable.

Author:

World Economic Forum