KEY 04 - Health is a Political Choice

Healthcare has developed into a key policy issue that is discussed at both national and international levels. In 2019, the G20 in Osaka, Japan, will include a meeting of Health Ministers in a forum set to cover topics like health security and antimicrobial resistance as well as a joint meeting of finance and health ministers. The health governance issues inherent in the Sustainable Development Goals have underlined how increasing financial and political commitments - at global and at domestic level - are central to solving global health challenges which must be dealt with at the highest political level. The G7 will focus on issues of inequality including access to health. Health featured strongly at the 2019 UNGA – it is also part of the BRICS deliberations. There is also an opportunity to give health a higher profile in upcoming EU presidencies.

This complementarity of agendas can support the SDG approach to address current and future social, economic and environmental challenges through an integrated approach. The social, economic and environmental factors play an undeniable role in human health; only through integration of the three dimensions will it be possible to achieve the transformative change required to secure long-term environmental and human well-being.