PSI expressed concern that the EHFA strategy was inadequate at EB158. But we also expressed hope that Member States could appreciate the historic significance of the EHFA in taking action. The situation since then makes optimism more difficult. Few MS have engaged with the strategy.

Their comments include: framing actions in the strategy as just a menu of options for gradual implementation, focusing on economic policy and growth instead of “shifts in economic systems,” and removal of language that limits “industry participation” in policy-making.

These will further denude the already watered-down transformative essence of the strategy. The Alma-Ata Declaration and COVID-19 showed that the economics of health for all requires urgent, radical systemic changes which put people before profit and prioritises public services. We thus urge Member States to breathe meaning into the EHFA strategy for posterity.