Governing health innovation for the common good

Abstract

Governing health innovation for the common good is a key element towards creating a new political economy for Health for All, one that has the ambition of shaping the economy with the objective of building healthy societies that are just, inclusive, equitable and sustainable. This is the vision behind the recently created World Health Organization (WHO) Council on the Economics of Health for All comprised of economists and experts in health and development that seek to develop a new understanding and a new narrative about the deep interconnectedness between health and the economy with a focus on the intertwined core themes which follow. Measurement, capacity, finance and innovation. The Council has written this brief to focus on the governance of innovation, a critical building block of healthy economies, and lays out the key problems with the health innovation ecosystem and why radical changes are needed to ensure it delivers Health for All. In future brief, the Council will look at how to measure and value Health for All in ways that are informed by common good principles, how to finance Health for All with new purpose-driven public and private partnerships, and how to build strong collective capacities able to deliver Health for All. These different dimensions are interrelated and connected. For instance, the way the financing of health innovation is structured must reflect its purpose (common good), value and governance, and be connected to building capacities to deliver it in equitable ways.