As G7 Leaders prepare to meet at the Evian Summit (15-17th June), the G20&G7 Health and Development Partnership has shared an open letter with them calling for an overhaul of how global health is financed.
The Focus: Health as an Economic Asset
With the French G7 Presidency heavily focused on reducing international economic imbalances and updating solidarity frameworks, the Partnership’s letter offers a practical blueprint on how to achieve this. It argues that the traditional boundaries separating economic stability, national security, and global health have dissolved. Fragmented health systems that treat short-term crisis response and long-term population health as competing budgetary priorities leave global markets exposed to severe biological and economic shocks.
The challenge before us is not a lack of commitments, but the need to translate ambition into implementation. The Evian Summit provides a critical opportunity for the G7 to combine scientific ambition with financial innovation. By acting decisively, leaders can build resilient health systems, safeguard the global economy, and secure true health sovereignty.
Four Core Policy Asks
The Call to Action outlines four operational priorities to align innovation, development finance, and public health security:
- Link Health and Economic Resilience: Developing a clear framework that recognises health as a strategic economic investment. This framework should integrate preparedness, security, workforce resilience, and sustainable financing into broader economic strategies to prevent future shocks.
- Advance Regional Cooperation: Building mutually beneficial global partnerships that respect national sovereignty and support country-led priorities. The goal is to strengthen local capabilities and promote long-term investment over short-term dependency.
- Reform Global Financing: Strengthening sustainable investment frameworks to mobilise public, private, and multilateral capital more effectively. This requires innovative financing mechanisms and targeted investments in prevention and primary healthcare.
- Accelerate Innovation through Collaboration: Strengthening partnerships across governments, industry, academia, and civil society to accelerate research, regional manufacturing, and equitable access. This must be supported by stable regulatory frameworks that encourage long-term life sciences investment.
The G20&G7 Health and Development Partnership stands ready to support continued dialogue and cooperation to ensure health remains central to global stability and sustainable development.
Read the full text of the open letter here.