78th World Health Assembly 

Investing in Health Financing: Building a Resilient and Sustainable Healthcare System 

On May 20, 2025  

8AM-10AM 

The event focused on addressing the urgent need for sustainable health financing in a rapidly changing global landscape, where health systems are facing increasing pressures. Katherine Urbáez, Executive Director of the Health Diplomacy Alliance and moderator, opened the discussion by underscoring the importance of sustainable health financing, noting that over the past decade, Official Development Assistance has decreased while growing expenditures on security have further strained health budgets. 

She also emphasized the need for health diplomacy to balance global solidarity with national ownership to ensure support for global health institutions like the WHO remains predictable and robust. 

The first keynote speaker, Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC, made a strong call for a paradigm shift in health financing “the plan is not to fill gaps, it’s to rethink the system of health financing.” He emphasized the need for stronger governance, data-driven systems, and sovereign control over health strategies and budgets.  

Dr. Kaseya also called for the utilization of domestic resources and innovative financing mechanisms like health taxes to address the decline in ODA and the rising demand for countries to “do more with less.” 

Hon. Dr. Amr Kandeel, Assistant Minister of Health for Preventive Medicine in Egypt and second keynote speaker addressed the impact of global inflation and supply chain disruptions on health systems. He shared Egypt’s commitment to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through its Universal Health Insurance system, which has already quadrupled the health budget in its second phase. Dr. Kandeel stressed the importance of investing in digital infrastructure, workforce development, and prevention, while promoting inclusive governance and public-private partnerships to build an equitable and sustainable health system. 

On the financing innovation front, Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet, CEO of Vital Strategies, outlined the “triple shocks” that are battering health systems worldwide: stagnation in development aid, tightening government budgets, and growing pressures from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), climate change, and demographic shifts. She highlighted the potential of health taxes, particularly on sugar, tobacco, and alcohol, as effective tools to sustain health system funding. She called for better governance, smarter data infrastructure, and stronger management to ensure governments can prioritize spending effectively.  

CEO of Grand Challenges Canada, Dr. Karlee Silver, brought a grassroots innovation perspective to the discussion. She illustrated how catalytic capital, including blended grants, loans, and equity, can help overcome market failures and scale promising health innovations. She discussed the need to rethink the health system and leverage innovative approaches, such as development impact funds and results-based financing to accelerate positive change. 

Leslie Rae Ferat, President of the NCD Alliance Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control, warned that NCDs, which are responsible for 80% of preventable deaths, exacerbate vulnerability to health crises like COVID-19. She underscored that by addressing NCDs through health taxation, countries can improve public health outcomes and achieve long-term savings for their health systems.  

Dr. Ballkis Abdelmoulla, a member of the WHO Youth Council, called for a coordinated approach to donor funding and greater support for national programs aimed at preventing NCDs, such as cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination. 

The discussions made it clear that building resilient and sustainable health systems requires a combination of national ownership, innovative financing mechanisms, strong governance, and coordinated multilateral efforts to ensure health systems are better equipped to meet both current and future challenges. 

Key takeaways:  

• Need to rethink the entire health financing system with innovative financing mechanisms and solutions.  

• Scaling grassroots innovations and innovative financing such as health taxes generate revenue and reduce harmful consumption. 

• Investment needed in digital infrastructure, workforce, prevention, and private-public partnerships. 

• Sustainable health systems depend on multilateral cooperation, innovation, and national leadership.