The World Patients Alliance (WPA) welcomes the growing focus on ensuring that health financing commitments translate into real improvements for patients, communities and health systems.
In a recent update, the World Health Organization highlighted the outcomes of the second global dialogue on health financing, convened by the WHO Civil Society Commission and Save the Children. More than 130 participants took part in the dialogue, which focused on practical actions to strengthen domestic health financing, improve accountability and ensure that available resources deliver better health outcomes.
The discussions highlighted that the challenge is not simply to mobilize more funding for health, but also to ensure that existing resources are prioritized, allocated and spent effectively. WHO identified increasing government revenues, giving health greater priority in national budgets, and improving the efficiency of health expenditure as important ways of strengthening domestic health financing.
Protecting essential services and primary health care
Participants emphasized the importance of protecting essential health services and strengthening primary health care (PHC). Among the priorities proposed for Member States was investing an additional 1% of GDP in primary health care, alongside establishing clearer domestic spending targets and improving the efficiency of health expenditure.
From a patient perspective, sustainable health financing is critical to ensuring that people can access quality healthcare without facing financial hardship. Adequate and well-managed investment can support stronger primary care, access to medicines and treatment, health workers, essential services and progress towards universal health coverage (UHC).
Greater transparency and civil society participation
WPA particularly welcomes the strong emphasis placed on accountability, transparency and civil society participation.
Participants stressed that communities need greater visibility into how health resources are raised, allocated and spent. The dialogue also called on WHO to institutionalize civil society participation and strengthen data transparency and accountability mechanisms.
For WPA, patients and patient organizations should be meaningfully involved in health financing discussions. Their experience can help decision-makers understand whether investments are actually improving access, affordability, quality and continuity of care.
Health financing decisions should therefore not only be measured by the amount of money allocated, but by the impact those investments have on people’s health and their ability to access the services they need.
Building momentum towards Universal Health Coverage
The recommendations emerging from the dialogue informed discussions ahead of the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly and are also intended to contribute to preparations for the 2027 UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage, where progress on health financing commitments is expected to receive further attention.
WPA supports continued efforts to strengthen sustainable and equitable health financing and calls for patients, communities and civil society organizations to be actively engaged in shaping, monitoring and evaluating these policies.
Ensuring that health resources reach frontline services and respond to the needs of patients will be essential to building stronger, more equitable and people-centred health systems worldwide.